


Time Won't Tell

by tantedrago



Series: The Time Travellers' Daughter [3]
Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Artifact Investigation, F/F, Gen, Magical Baby Fic, Romance, Seeing your own future, Time Travel, Time machine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-17 22:09:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 73,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1404292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tantedrago/pseuds/tantedrago
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>HG Wells has finally found her way back to the place she belongs: the Warehouse. Claudia Donovan, who is desperately trying to adjust to her caretaker responsibilities and powers has to solve a puzzle by her mentor Mrs. Frederic. The former caretaker has told her to find an artifact without stating what this would mean in particular. Is it only a coincidence that Sarah Bering-Wells is forced into a second time travel - this time with her mother’s time machine? Pete and Myka are about to come home from their artifact hunt in New York. Will Myka and Helena finally find a way to become a couple?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Beta reader of this one is again my lovely real life friend and arting buddy Aimofdestiny. Thank you very much

Mrs. Frederic gracefully took her seat at the dinner table in front of Claudia Donovan. They were both in a restaurant in Berlin. Claudia had made it here by teleporting, but she had no idea how the older woman had travelled to this place. The new caretaker had just received a rather cryptic letter that morning, which read: 'Berlin, Borchardt, 6 pm local time. Don't be late.'

After her disconnection from the Warehouse, Mrs. Frederic still seemed to enjoy being mystery personified and Claudia didn't want to take this pleasure away from her. So she had appeared in Berlin, visited the Alexanderplatz and the Brandenburg Gate, sat on the bank of this river called Spree for a while, people-watching, and then make it to the mentioned restaurant.

Claudia's German was terrible, which meant she didn't speak a word but 'Ja', 'Nein', 'Jäger' (yes - she loved that movie) and 'Wanderlust' - which wasn't actually a thing anymore in German as she just had learned.

But apparently Germans spoke acceptable English, so Claudia had no problems finding her seating in the restaurant to wait for Mrs. Frederic.

The former caretaker was punctual. Of course.

"So, Claudia." She gave the redhead a meaningful look. No real greeting, just these words. Claudia wasn't surprised. They met like this occassionally and the older woman always gave her some kind of lecture or a puzzle to solve. All of them had something to do with the Warehouse or being its caretaker. The redhead assumed Mrs. Frederic way trying to teach her some of her old tricks and Claudia liked that. In fact, she was grateful for every bit of help she could get considering this new job and its responsibilities.

"Mrs. F." She nodded at the older woman, expecting to receive some information or some sort of riddle.

"What would you like to eat?" The former caretaker asked, opening her menu. Claudia was surprised. This was the first time they'd met in a restaurant, but she hadn't lost any thought about the possibility that Mrs. F wanted to have dinner with her (especially because of the time difference between South Dakota and Germany). It wasn't really a regular thing to just have dinner in Germany. The redhead blinked in confusion.

"Hm?" She asked, flabbergasted.

"I think I'll take the Schnitzel. Since we are in Germany, it sounds like a good choice." The older woman declared, surveying her menu.

Claudia's eyes widened and she quickly opened her menu as well. "Well..." She said, hurriedly browsing through the pages. "A... salad... maybe?"

"I'll pay, Claudia, so you can take something more filling if you like." Irene closed her menu and gave her a piercing look. Claudia looked up shyly into her eyes. "Uhm... I think I'll stick with the salad."

"Alright, that's your choice." Mrs. Frederic seemed a little disappointed, but the redhead was okay with that.

The older woman ordered for them - in perfect German, Claudia was surprised to notice. After the former caretaker had exhorted the girl to practice her language skills ("But I have Myka and HG for that!"), they went silent. Until their food arrived.

"Well, Claudia..." Mrs. Frederic began and cut her meat. The redhead reached into her bag to get her notebook out, but the former caretaker just glared at her. The girl froze mid-reach.

"What are you doing?" Irene asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Uhm, I thought I was supposed to take notes." The girl quickly pulled her hand out of her bag, feeling uncomfortable.

"About what?"

"I don't know. Your new task or puzzle... or something." Claudia took her fork and picked a cherry tomato out of her salad.

"I would prefer to eat and talk." Mrs. Frederic raised an eyebrow.

Quickly, the redhead placed the tomato in her mouth and chewed to keep herself busy.

"Tell me, Claudia. How's Agent Wells?", was the first question Mrs. Frederic asked and suddenly, just like that, Claudia felt like a spy.

"Uhm, well... she's well, I guess. Busy with the artifact hunting with Steve and doing her job very well. Which is what she's doing: Her job, well. No evil stuff going on or anything." The redhead could feel that she was starting to sweat profusely.

The older woman sighed and put her silverware down. "Claudia, I'm not here to sound you out on HG Wells. I was just interested because she's back in the Warehouse and I hoped that she would settle in nicely."

"Oh!" Claudia's eyes widened. "Yes, I think she likes it with us. And is quite happy and everything. I don't see her very often. All the caretaking stuff and the artifact hunting keeps us from meeting that much."

"Well, it's good to hear she's fine." The former caretaker said with a pleased tone of voice and continued eating her food.

Again, they ate in silence until Mrs Frederic looked up from her plate.

"And how is Agent Bering?" She asked, again sounding genuinely interested.

"Uhm, good, I guess. Mrs. F. Are you going to ask me about every single agent? They are all well. Very well. Everything in the Warehouse is alright. I'm taking good care of them." Claudia couldn't help but feel a little indignant about her teacher's questions.

"Claudia, why do you have the feeling I'm up to something when I'm just trying to make conversation?" And now Claudia was sure she saw Mrs. Frederic smile.

"Uff! Because you're Mrs. Frederic. You're our boss. You're the care- Oh wait, no, that's me." Claudia shook her head.

Irena raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her and the redhead couldn't interpret that gesture. "I'm sorry." She said, without knowing why.

"Then, Claudia, let me assure you that I'm currently just having light conversation over dinner. And," Mrs. Frederic looked directly into her eyes. "I wasn't going to ask about every agent. I was just interested in the agents Bering and Wells."

"Ah, are you afraid of that their relationship could complicate things?" The redhead was now sure she was about to find out what Mrs. F was up to.

"No. Claudia. I'm not afraid their relationship - whichever kind of relationship that might be - could complicate things. I was just interested in how they are." The former caretaker replied primly.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Frederic." Claudia groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Really, really sorry. I'm just... I'm not used to this."

"Then I think we should meet more often for dinner, Claudia, so you can get used to this." The older woman inclined her head for emphasis.

"Yeah, maybe. So, well, Myka and HG are fine. Still tiptoeing around each other, but they are fine, I guess." Claudia looked up again from her hands.

"Good." Irene nodded again at that information and continued eating her Schnitzel. They didn't speak another word until they were finished with their dishes.

"Claudia." Mrs. Frederic delicately wiped at her mouth with a corner of her white linen napkin. "There's indeed a small task I have for you."

"Oh! Good." Claudia pulled our her notebook from her bag. She took a pen and opened the book while looking attentively at the older woman.

"I need you to find an artifact." The former caretaker said calmly.

"Okay." Still looking attentively at Mrs. Frederic, Claudia waited for further information to write down.

"That's it." The older woman said.

"What?"

"That's all."

"Wait. 'I need you to find an artifact'? That's everything I get? Like... I could bring you anything and the task would be solved?" Claudia was honestly a bit aghast. This was too easy.

The older woman opened her purse and pulled out her wallet. She counted off some money and placed it on the table. "No." She answered the redhead's question.

"So, more information please?" The girl pointed at her notebook.

Mrs. Frederic rose from her chair. "It's an artifact. And you need to find it." She bowed her head in farewell.

"Good bye, Claudia."

With this, the former caretaker left the restaurant and Claudia stared at her back, completely and utterly confused.


	2. Chapter 2

Myka followed Pete through the streets of New York, slowly walking down the block to their hotel. Her partner carried the purple bag in which they'd stored the artifact they had collected.

While they made their way through the groups of passers-by clogging the sidewalk, they were in a very intense conversation and Myka was already annoyed. The brunette hadn't asked for his 'advice' at any point but, as always, he hadn't actually cared.

"If you ask me." He began another sentence with those four words. "You should take one of those shelves out of your room."

She groaned loudly and craned her neck to glare at him. "No, Pete. I won't take a damn shelf out of my room. There are books in it and I need them."

The bed in Myka's room in the B&B had broken last week and they were about to replace it. Abigail had decided that she wanted to replace all the beds in the B&B along with it, because they were quite old. The problem was that the new king size bed didn't really want to fit into Myka's room, unless she managed to part with another piece of furniture. The agent didn't know why they suddenly needed king sized beds, but the keeper of the inn had been very strict about it.

Myka had been happy when they had gotten a ping so she could ponder over this while travelling. Pete and Myka had been in New York for four days until they had found the artifact and she hadn't made a decision yet. The curly haired woman would never admit that she was wasting a lot of time thinking about this smaller problem to not have to face a bigger one.

"Myka." Pete shook his head while they approached the revolving door that led to their hotel's lobby. "I know you're totally into books and they are your thing and you love all of them in your possession, but," He made a brief pause to glare at her, making sure she knew he was about to say something important. "We have a library in the B&B and basically the Library of Alexandria in the Warehouse. So I think you should totally." He took a deep breath, following Myka inside the revolving door. "Declare your love for HG." He ducked his head, like he was expecting her to hit him.

"What?!" Myka was so surprised that she forgot walking. The glass part in the middle of the revolving door bumped into her back and the whole door stopped immediately, trapping everyone inside it.

A man in a well-tailored suit standing on the other side of the glass glared indignantly at Myka's back. The Warehouse agent payed him no mind, but instead looked at Pete like he had just declared cookies were the source of all evil.

"I think you should keep walking, Mykes." He shrugged a little, looking helpless.

"What did you just say?!" His partner still blocked the door, completely thunderstruck. On the other side of the glass, the man was starting to yell at them. "Hey, you two idiots! This door only spins if you keep walking!"

Pete sighed. "You know, it's very obvious with you two."

"I- ...it's... I don't-" Myka stuttered, but was interrupted by the man behind the glass.

"Tell your retarded girlfriend she has to move!"

"Okay, pal." Myka's partner turned around and flashed his badge at him. "Federal agents. You should maybe think a little before randomly insulting people around here."

The man's face turned red. "I don't care if you're the president himself -"

Pete groaned and grabbed Myka by the wrist to make her walk. His friend weakly placed one foot in front of the other, but she made enough space so the door could spin. Pete and Myka entered the lobby and Myka's friend turned away from her to face the guy who had just insulted her. The brunette was still deeply in thought. Was it really that obvious? If Pete had realised then maybe Helena had, too. The agent looked up at her her partner, who was in a discussion with the person from the revolving door.

"All I'm saying is that you should be glad I'm leaving you-" Pete just declared with his hands held up in defense. Myka saw the punch coming. The other man was flushed red and there was a vein throbbing angrily on his forehead, so it wasn't surprising for her when his fist punched forward, hitting Pete straight in the face. The secret service agent's head was thrown back by the force of the blow and he fell on his back. "Mykes." He grunted, lifting himself onto his elbows.

Immediately, the brunette woke up from her semi-daydream and headed towards them. With two quick moves she grabbed the man by the wrist and twisted his arm up against his back.

"Keep it easy!" Myka just commented on his attempts to free himself, and pressed his arm a little higher behind his back. He groaned in pain but still struggled to fight her grip.

With his face splotchy brick red, the man spat insults and curses at her. Pete slowly stood up. "I knew New Yorkers were rude. But that rude is just... rude." He declared while pressing the heel of his palm against his left eye.

Eventually, they had to call the police because nobody was able to calm the man down. The officers put him - still throwing curses and insults at everyone and anyone, and kicking with his feet into empty space - into their car and took Myka's and Pete's names.

Half an hour later, the two agents sat in the hotel's restaurant. Pete held some ice against his black eye - a waitress had brought it to him. "It's swelling." He whined. "I can feel it."

"I'm sorry, Pete!" His partner offered him a soft look. She really meant it.

"Well." He grinned a little. "I did take you a bit by surprise, didn't I?"

Myka sighed and avoided his eyes.

"Mykes, I'm sorry I said that, but, well, I see how you're torturing yourself and I'm really worried about you. The two of you." Her friend explained ,his eyes softening.

The brunette tilted her head in reaction. "Hm?"

"Well, it's really funny to watch when not involved, I think. At first you've been completely avoiding each other since HG is back. Now that she is a part of the family again, I thought you would end up making out in her bedroom after two days or something." He chuckled. "Because she's more the agressive type, right? But well, she buries herself in work and jumps from one artifact case to the next and you're doing the same. For weeks now. I take that back. It's not funny to watch. It's sad to watch."

"Pete..." Myka took a deep breath, but didn't know what to say. He was right, she knew, but this was far more complicated. It was wonderful to have Helena around; Myka was so happy she had decided to come back. But still, their situation was so complicated after the whole time travel story. The brunette shook her head.

"And then if you're accidentally in the B&B at the same time, it gets really sad." Pete sighed. "Last Tuesday at breakfast I watched the two of you very intensely. It was like... she looks down, you stare at her like she's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your life. Then she looks up and immediately, you bury your gaze in your low-fat-no-sugar-super-healthy cereal. And then she sighs like her heart is heavier than an elephant. Oh, and if we're already talking about elephants in the room, when are you going to talk to her?"

"'Like her heart is heavier than an elephant' Pete? Have you been reading?" Myka grinned, but a thousand thoughts raced through her mind.

"Don't change the topic." He took the ice from his eye and gently touched his bruise. It made him scrunch his nose and hiss.

"What do you want me to do? Do you think it's best to walk towards her and say 'Oh, Helena I love you. And did you know? I've seen a future in which we are married and have a child and somehow I think we just messed this up completely." Myka threw her head back and buried her face in her hands.

"What?" Now Pete blinked, confused. Myka still hadn't told him the reason for her 'whammy' the day HG came back. She thought that now was the right moment to update him on her problem with the writer. So she explained it to him: Months ago, she had had an accident with a watch that allowed time travel and had made her see her own future with HG Wells. But, well, this whole time travel thing was linked to a dangerous situation: Their twenty-year-old future daughter Sarah had tried to undo an accident Myka would have had in the Warehouse 25 years into the future. Apparently, they had been able to find a way to solve this. But the price was high. The agent was sure that she had changed this future in attempt to not change it at all the day Helena came back to the Warehouse from Boone. And by now, the curly haired woman was more than afraid that Sarah might never exist because Myka had accidentally avoided the future that led to her birth.

Was it okay to mourn a future that would never happen? She didn't know, but she was mourning it regardless. And she was uncomfortable around HG, who - and Myka knew this - had consistently avoided talking to her since she had been reinstated as a Warehouse agent. Maybe she was afraid, too. But of what? That was a question Myka couldn't possibly answer.

At the end of Myka's explanation, Pete glared at her, thunderstruck.

"Wow." He just said and she nodded in agreement.

"Wow." He said again.

_______________________________________________________

At a certain point of time in the future, Claudia Donovan entered the Warehouse, having been caretaker for thirty years now. She had decided to stop with the ageing in her early thirties, so she would command the respect befitting a grown up person, let alone a caretaker, but still wouldn't be the stuffy old lady ordering people around.

That day had been quite boring. She had talked to a Regent and prepared the B&B for the arrival of her friends and their daughter. Their house and also the inn were very empty today, which was a mystery to her, so she decided to check in with the Warehouse to make sure everything was alright.

It wasn't. As Claudia appeared in Artie's office ( three years after his death, they still called it that, eventhough it was now actually Jinksy's office), she gasped. Her gaze fell on the people standing in the office, frozen like stone. All of them looked terrified. Myka and HG were leaning on Jinks' desks, Jinks looked like he had tried to run, and Pete lay on the ground next to him,spread-eagled. The two new Warehouse agents, who had been a replacement for Myka and Helena, who just had retired to become Regents, were pointing at one of their desks, also completely frozen. Abigail had her hands on her hips and was staring at them with widened eyes.

What were they all even doing in the Warehouse?

Set on a desk, there was a big, grey stone.

The caretaker suddenly felt fear. Her left hand developed a sudden and pervasive itch out of the blue. Claudia looked down at it only to find that it had started to turn into stone as well.

Her first thought was _Oh. Maybe I should really start carrying my stuff around with me in a big purse. I could really use those glasses right now._ Her second thought was _Well, now that one incident in the past makes sense._

Then, Claudia came back to her mind to understand that this situation was actually pretty dangerous. So she tried to teleport away, only to find that she couldn't. That stone was not only turning her into stone like the other ones, it was also trapping her here.

Claudia made a decision to get that stone out of sight from the Umbilicus' door. Because if somebody else would make it here, they couldn't turn into stone as well.

She ran towards the desk and flipped it over with her right hand. The stone fell to the ground and rolled out of sight. Her left arm was feeling very heavy already, like ...yeah, well, like stone.

Claudia made it to another table, although she couldn't walk straight anymore from the weight of her left arm. She ripped out a page from a notebook. Her right hand had started to turn into stone too, so Claudia had problems writing. She felt that cold and frightening feeling creeping up her back, too. And it itched like hell. Claudia thought that it wasn't the turning into stone at sight effect which made that artifact really annoying, but the fact that her skin itched horribly while it happened and also that one wasn't able to scratch because the arms were the first thing to turn.

"I swear to you, Donovan, if you tremble and fall, you're in serious trouble." The woman told herself, afraid of shattering upon impact. With a quick movement, she tried to shove the paper into the direction of the Warehouse's door. She cursed loudly as she realised that her fingers had closed very tightly around the paper and that she couldn't move them one iota. The note was stuck to her ossified hand. Rolling her eyes dramatically, the caretaker limped to the door, unable to walk as her feet were also already stone. She tapped her arm carefully against the pocket of her pants, trying to activate the remote in it without breaking her hip bone with the weight of her stone arm. Her nose started itching horribly.

The Umbilicus door opened and Claudia stopped right in front of the doorway, with that note in her hand, as she realised that she couldn't move her legs anymore.

"Dammit." She exclaimed before turning completely into stone.


	3. Chapter 3

Jinks and HG lay on the ground of Artie's office next to each other on their backs, their feet resting on the office chairs. Spread around them were files. Piles of files. And bags of crisps and sweets and cookies. Helena and Steve giggled like children while they handed each other different sorts of food.

"This one is Myka's favourite." Jinksy said, grinning. "She wouldn't admit it but she's almost addicted to them."

The Victorian took a bit from the red liquorice. Her face immediately changed to a slightly disgusted one. "Oh." She laughed and scrunched her nose. "It's disgusting. I love it!"

Steve took a bite himself and looked at the ceiling. He started giggling and she joined immediately until they burst into uproarious laughter. They always had a good time working with each other. It was like HG had the same energy as Steve's former partner Claudia, while he was still the calming pole of this work relationship. But sometimes they both just felt the need to do incredibely silly things. Like stealing Pete's and Myka's sweet supplies while the other team was on an artifact hunt, for example. HG had talked him into it and Steve had been unsure about it at first, but HG could be very persuasive if she put her mind to it.

"It's ridiculous!" Steve panted and laughed again. "I'm lying on the floor of our office with HG Wells and we're taste-testing different kinds of candy."

The writer grinned. "I have literally travelled more than a hundred years through time. I was born in the Victorian age and I have met so many important historical persons... and I must say that this may not be the most productive thing I've ever done, but it still amuses me nicely. Not as much as that one time Oscar and I-"

Now Steve faked a snoring noise and she mockingly slapped his shoulder in reaction.

"Good afternoon, second A team." Claudia's voice said and they both gasped at her sudden appearence in the office. But then the Warehouse agents burst out into laughter again. The caretaker rolled her eyes.

"Claudia!" HG yelled and threw her head back so she could see the girl (upside down) standing there with her hands on her hips. "Myka loves disgusting artifical sweets. Isn't it fantastic?"

The redhead groaned. "Don't you two have anything to do? Hunting artifacts for example? Or keeping this office clean? I mean, yes, it's Artie's week off, but this is just ridiculous."

"Do you know what is ridiculous?" Steve asked and giggled again. "I'm lying on the ground of Artie's office with the HG Wells, eating candy." HG and Jinks again burst into laughter. Claudia walked through the office, sighing.

"Perfect! Jinksy. I'm so proud of you." She grumbled.

"We're bored." The Victorian declared like it would explain their behaviour. "There is nothing to do. We did inventory after that accident with the Jumanji board game so we can't do that again. There is no ping, no artifact disturbance. I'm bored."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for you two." The caretaker's voice was heavy with sarcasm. She opened one of the drawers of the green cupboard and groaned after taking a look at its content.

Helena and Steve shared a concerned look. "Is everything alright?" Claudia's former partner asked and clambered upright from his position. HG sat up as well and glanced at the both of them.

"Sure." Claudia forced out. "Everything is alright."

"Yeah." Steve replied. "You don't need to be a human lie detector to see that that was a lie."

The writer nodded, stood up and approached them. "Maybe we can help, Claudia."

"Yeah, maybe. Or well. Maybe not." The redhead pursed her lips while she opened another drawer.

"Well, you do look like you're looking for something." Steve suggested.

"Indeed. The problem is that I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to be looking for. Mrs. Frederic was like 'Claudia, I need you to find an artifact for me.' yesterday and that's all." The caretaker explained and imitated the former caretaker's voice perfectly.

"You mean she didn't state which artifact?" The Victorian asked, surprised.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying, the problem is that all the artifacts I brought her didn't make her happy and now I'm at a loss. I don't know what she wants from me."

Jinks tilted his head. "Have you already... you know? Asked... the Warehouse?"

"Oh, yes, I have. Leena was all like 'This is Mrs. Frederic's puzzle for you. You have to solve it on your own.' Best guide in existence!" With her knee, Claudia hit the drawer and closed it, causing a loud thud.

"Okay, this sounds like a job for good old Claudia and Steve friendship time." Her former partner declared and the redhead's face brightened a little.

HG nodded in agreement. "Well, since I'm getting a visit from Adelaide tomorrow morning and I have to prepare some things, I can leave you two alone. And I meet with Dr. Cho in about two hours."

"It's okay, HG... if..." Steve looked at her.

"No. Honestly." The Victorian smiled softly at them. "I can see when brother and sister need time together. And this seems to be the case here."

Steve and Claudia looked at each other after Helena had left the room. The caretaker smiled mischievously. "So." She said, taking place in one of the chairs. "It seems the second A team is now the first gay team?"

Jinks rolled his eyes. "Didn't you have a problem?"

"Yeah, I have and yes, I need help. Thank you. But talking about being gay for each other... HG and Myka..." Claudia made a gesture in front of her face to show him that she really had to talk about this topic.

He shook his head. "Not our business."

"We should do something about that, Jinksy. You know... taking care of them..." The girl still grinned at him.

"Your problem? You know? The puzzle by Mrs. Frederic?" He crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at her. "Oh come on! Claud, you're not suggesting we should set up HG and Myka? You know, I'm working with one of them and I'm not interested in having to face HG's wrath. Woman is nice, but still creepy."

"Dude, I'm just thinking that we maybe could..." The caretaker wiggled her eyebrows.

"Not. Our. Business." Steve overemphasised every word.

______________________________________________________-

2044

The bus stopped with a loud squealing noise in the middle of Univille. Sarah shot a few nervous glimpses outside and then looked at Julia, who sat next to her. Her best friend didn't stop babbling. She had been talking for almost the entire trip by plane and bus from New York all the way to Univille. But Sarah was happy about it, because she liked listening to the other woman's voice. The blonde and rather short Julia was Sarah's best friend - had been for years now. They had met at college, shared a flat and from that point onwards this girl had become a very big part in Sarah's life. Their friendship gave the dark-haired girl a feeling of normality, which was not a very big part of her life.

The two of them grinned at each other and left the bus, Julia still talking.

"Everything I want to say, Bells." She strictly declared while walking down the stairs. "Is that if you don't make them become a couple in the next part, I will eat you alive."

"Hm?" Sarah showed her a confused look and then looked around for her brother. She tried to see wether he was already at the bus stop. He wasn't. Paul had a talent for always being late. An older man shyly smiled at Sarah. He had left the bus with them. Sarah couldn't remember when he'd gotten on the bus, or why his face caused a strange feeling inside her.

"Susan and Janet." Julia nodded profusely and shot a glimpse at the bus driver who opened the trunk for them so they could get their luggage.

"You want Susan and Janet to become a couple?" Sarah asked surprised. She turned away from the man who had now walked away, and looked at her best friend.

"Does this thought really surprise you that much? I mean you basically wrote them a love story." The blonde woman leaned into the trunk and reached for Sarah's suitcase. She handed it to her friend and pulled out her own.

"Uhm, no..." The curly haired woman shook her head. "The thought of them together doesn't surprise me... but it surprises me that you'd like to see them together."

"Oh god, Sarah! Let me just summarise this for you. Vampire Janet basically waited two hundred years to meet your lovely protagonist Detective Susan. And then she rescued her ass and betrayed her and rescued her ass again. If this isn't a lovestory, then tell me what a lovestory is."

"I know what a lovestory is." The brunette said indignantly. "I'm a writer!"

Julia dropped her suitcase and glared at her. "Yes, you are! You did that quite well. All this chemistry between them and now you have to finish it! If they won't become a couple, I swear I'll never talk to you again."

The brunette nodded at the bus driver who tipped his hat and left them to start the bus. As they watched him drive away, Sarah tilted her head from one side to the other.

"Well, my publisher wants Susan and Matthew become a thing."

"What?" Julia looked at her with her eyes widened. "Her partner? Is he insane?"

"I know..."

"They are basically brother and sister!"

"I know!"

"That's crap! No... Susan and Janet and nothing else." Julia's blue eyes bored into Sarah's intensely and caused her to swallow.

"Hey, accident." She suddenly heard her brother's voice behind herself. Sarah spun on her heels and looked up into her brother's face. She grinned. "Idiot." She laughed and jumped into his arms. Paul was much taller than her, so he lifted her up from the ground and spun her around.

"You're late." The older of the Bering-Wells children declared when she stood safely on the ground again.

He showed her an apologetic smile. "Yeah, you know, I had a thing in-"

"I don't want to know." Sarah punched his shoulder and turned around to Julia. "You two already know each other."

"Hey, handsome." The blonde firmly hugged Sarah's brother.

"Oh, Julia. You flatter me." Paul demurred and nodded in the direction of his green Ford.

"You could show your gratefulness by carrying my bag." Julia grinned.

"It's an honour." He replied in the thickest British accent he could manage.

"Oh, don't talk to me that way or you'll have to deal with the consequences, young man!" Julia purred.

Sarah rolled her eyes at him as he turned around, shifting both their suitcases on his back.

"It's always interesting to see the two of you." Julia looked at Paul and then at Sarah and back. "If there are more people in your family who look so incredibly good, I might not make it through lunch."

She was right. With his light brown and curly but short hair and the almost black eyes, Paul indeed looked very handsome. The writer was aware of that.

"Julia, my mothers are old." Sarah said, feeling a little uncomfortable and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I was not talking about them... yet." Her friend smirked.

"Technically Paul and I just share 50 percent of our-"

"Yes, but your family's X chromosomes seem to be pure gold." Julia grinned. Sarah didn't know what to reply to that. She just lowered her gaze to the ground.

"Oh, honey. Sometimes I'm really surprised how incredibely blind you are for a writer. You should take a compliment if you get one." Julia winked and then turned to follow Paul to his car.

"Young man, that's not a car. That's a disaster."

"So, Paul, tell me." The blonde girl adressed Paul from her position in the front passenger seat a few minutes later. He turned his long neck to look at her.

"Eyes on the street." Sarah poked him from her place behind him and he groaned.

"Susan and Janet or Susan and Matthew?" Julia wanted to know.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Susan and Matthew? Whose idea was that?"

"Not mine!" His sister commented from the back seat.

"They are like brother and sister." Paul declared, sounding indignant.

"Preach it!" Julia replied and raised her arms triumphantly. "Susan and Janet forever."

"Can we just stop talking like the romantic interests of the characters in my novel are the most important part of it? I mean, that thing has a plot, you know? I worked very hard on it!"

Paul ignored his sisters attempts to change the topic. "Well, Julia, I always like the thought of a female protagonist not having a love interest at all."

"Ha!" Sarah cheered. "That's what I told my publisher!"

"Oh, come on! I'm a busy medicine student who needs a little love in the only fiction that she has time to read." Julia groaned.

"That's an irrefutable argument, Julia." Paul grinned.

"I know. I'm always right." The blonde girl declared and proudly crossed her arms in front of her chest.

With a big grin, Paul turned in his seat and glared at his sister. "If you don't marry her, I will."

Sarah groaned. "And that's the next thing we should immediately stop talking about. It's bad enough that our parents already keep talking like that without having met Jules in person yet."

Her brother's smile just brightened.

"Eyes on the street." The writer huffed. "And: Not going to happen."

Paul parked the car in front of the B&B and looked at Julia, narrowing his eyes. "Of course not, Sarah." He replied and then got out of the car, smiling brightly.

While Julia headed to the trunk to get her suitcase out, Sarah approached her brother and punched him in the shoulder, hard. "If you ever read my best friend's aura like that again," She hissed and glared at him, with her green eyes widened. "I will castrate you!"

"Oh, such harsh words." He replied and jogged towards the B&B's door. Quickly, he pushed it open and yelled inside "A special delivery called Sarah Bering-Wells for her mothers!"

It was quiet in the B&B and suddenly, Sarah had a strange feeling. Julia carried her suitcase behind them into the building as brother and sister walked around like they were searching something.

Adelaide appeared in the hall, her son on her hip and Pete's daughter right behind her. "Gosh, Paul, Sarah. Have you seen the others? It's like everyone is gone and I can't find them. They don't even answer their Farnsworths."

Julia raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Their what?"

"Ha!" Sarah laughed. "Very good idea for a surprise, Adelaide. Everyone is gone, I'm so worried."

"No.", the older woman shook her head and put the toddler down to the ground. "I'm not joking. I've found them alone here in the B&B." Adelaide waved her hand to point at Pete's daughter and his younger son showing up behind her. "Alone. That's not normal. I tried to call Pete on Farnsworth. Or Myka and Hel. Or anyone."

Sarah pursed her lips and stared at the older woman, horrified. Then, she eyed Julia nervously and looked at her brother.

"Julia, can you stay here? Paul and I have a thing to do. Adelaide makes a wonderful tea and a very strong coffee. You can choose."

Julia mustered her best friend firmly. She looked worried. "Sarah, is everything al-"

"To be honest, Julia. No" Sarah's brother took a deep breath and surveyed Sarah. "But actually, we're gonna solve it. Don't worry." The younger Bering-Wells child placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Ferret." He said and took a brief look at her hands pressed into fists, the knuckles already white. "Calm down. Please."


	4. Chapter 4

2014

In the hotel's lobby, Myka approached Pete from the side, carrying her suitcase. Her partner was writing something on a clipboard which lay on the reception counter. As he spotted her, he smiled and put the pen back on the clipboard.

"I checked us out of the hotel a few minutes ago." He said. "You don't need to do anything at all. Just prepare for an awesome calm and cuddly flight back to South Dakota. You can have my iPod with the chilly music and sleep a little." Myka's partner shrugged. "Or if you want, we can talk about fencing and literature."

She smiled at him fondly. Sometimes Pete was such a softy.

"Well, you know." Myka assured him. "I'm not ill. I'm just struggling with-"

He waved his hand and then closed the gap between them to place his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, Mykes. I know you like handling things on your own and all. But let me help you."

Maybe he was right. She had tried to handle her feelings by herself so far. Well, she had told Claudia, but the girl was already struggling with her new responsibility as caretaker. Maybe Myka's best friend could help her get through this instead? Actually, it was an obvious choice. Pete had helped her so often already. Why hadn't she already asked him for his help? Well, she had to admit that she had never really been the kind of person who would ask anyone for help. And the fact that she had actually told Claudia, on the day she had had the accident with the watch, had been linked to her euphoria after finding out that HG was supposed to be part of her future.

Pete's partner sighed and then nodded. "Okay." She replied. "If you really want to take care of me, then that's okay." He let go of her and then took her suitcase. Myka groaned.

"Even that?" She asked, bewildered.

"You don't have to worry about anything today." Pete declared while trying to carry both suitcases at the same time. "I'm taking care of everything."

Slowly Pete waddled into the direction of the hotel lobby's exit.

She grinned smugly and followed him. "Well, okay... as long as you won't complain about your back pain again."

Then she stopped. There was...

"Do you smell fudge?" Myka asked her partner and looked around the lobby.

"Oh." Pete froze. "That's the artifact." With his elbow he pointed a little cumbersomly at the pocket of his trousers. The curly haired woman could see the purple edge of a static bag. "It won't stop smelling."

He started walking again and Myka sighed. "First off: why are you carrying the artifact around in your pants' pocket? And secondly: How exactly do you plan on getting that through the security checkpoint?"  
______________________________________

Pete did manage to get the artifact through the security checkpoint somehow. Hours later, on the plane, Myka was still not very sure quite how he'd done it, but she didn't care anymore. Her friend had said he would take care of everything and so she let him. It wasn't like she needed to be babysat by him or anything, but if he thought that this was the right thing to do, she could certainly let him get on with it.

Currently, she had allowed herself to rest her head on his right shoulder and he had wrapped his arm around her to gently pet the back of her head. This felt indeed quite comfortable, even though Myka was not very much for cuddling. But these plane seats were not very convenient for people over 5'5", she almost coudn't feel her legs anymore and... oh god, what did it matter that she let him cuddle her? He was her best friend, for crying out loud! Besides, Myka really needed to be comforted.

Pete seemed to have noticed her internal struggle, because he suddenly decided to talk to her. "Maybe", he said, not taking his eyes off the screen - which showed _Gone with the wind_ and the brunette was not really surprised about Pete really getting into the movie, "you shouldn't wait for her to make the first step."

Reluctantly, his partner lifted her head slightly from his shoulder to blink at him with sleepy eyes. "Huh?"

"HG?" The other agent clarified. "You're waiting for her to make the first step. I think you shouldn't."

She sighed, not sure herself if in annoyance or in agreement. "Well, when I was in the future-"

"Yeah, I think that's the problem, Myka." Pete interrupted her, looking down at her with his eyebrows raised. At least as much as the swelling of his eye allowed him to raise them.

"Huh?" Myka blinked a few times and inwardly cursed herself for being this out of words. But that was indeed what this whole thing was about. She had talked so much, expended so many words about this problem that she had no energy for it anymore. Something needed to happen, something that showed her that everything was alright. The future she'd seen might be ruined, but couldn't they still-

"You're thinking too much about this future thingy. I think you shouldn't. HG is basically recovering right now. I know a few things about recovery..." Pete paused for a second, blinking. "And I don't think she could make a single step towards you right now. So, what you should do is finding a way to get the booty. Because she has other things to do than thinking about getting yours." He grinned.

"Pete!"

"I mean to make HG talk to you and to admit her feelings to you. Do you know what I think could help? Admitting your feelings to her. That's a very interesting strategy. Don't you think?" He was still grinning brightly at her which caused her to roll her eyes, hard.

"Pete, she's avoiding me completely and I'm afraid she'd be lea-"

"Ah, yes." He nodded like he had figured everything out and looked back at the screen. "You know what both your problems is? She is the one who struggles with letting herself into other people's life. And you're the one who struggles with letting people into your life." Wiggling his head a little from the right to the left, he went on speaking. "I'm an expert at this point, you know? It took me a long time to make my way into your life and now there's HG... So, she's the one who likes to leave and you're the one who likes to let people go. She is currently becoming aware of this, you know that already. What to do?"

Myka raised one of her eyebrows in anticipation of what he was about to say.

"Stop doing that, Mykes. Cling to her. Hold on to her. Make her a part of your life. Do something that allows her to understand how much she means to you." He looked down at her again, eyes narrowed. Well, at least one of them was narrowed on purpose. The other one was just swollen. "Maybe you should just yell at her or shake her until she decides that it's better to kiss you so you won't look that scary anymore. Or tie her to the heating and make her stay until you admitted your feelings to her. Or something. Anything, Mykes, if this behaviour of looking at each other but not talking to each other is supposed to stop. And you know what? It has to stop! I'm tired of seeing it!" He had gotten a little louder with the last sentences and on the seats around them in the plane, the other passengers had started staring at them, either a little scandalised or actively embarrassed.

The flight attendant showed up, briefly glanced at Pete's face and especially his black eye, and then looked questioningly at Myka. "Does your boyfriend maybe need a drink?"

Myka shook her head. "He's not my boyfriend." She declared in a calm tone of voice. "He's my best friend." She looked over to Pete, who shot her a glimpse out of the corners of his eyes. "And of course he doesn't need a drink. Thank you very much. But maybe those people who are so scandalised by him could use one." The flight attendant was clearly unsettled by the agent's indignant glare and walked off without another word.

Then, Myka rested her head on Pete's shoulder again and decided that _Gone with the wind_ wasn't a bad idea.

___________________________________________

2044

In the front passenger seat of Paul's Ford, next to her brother, Sarah groaned frustratedly into her hands. Paul cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Explain this to me." The young woman huffed, muffled. Then she took her hands away from her face and watched him turning the car into the street that led to the Warehouse. "I'm come back after I've been home only once or twice in three years. Just wanting to introduce my family to my best friend. And the very moment I show up, everything gets strange and mysterious. And I have the feeling there's another artifact ruining my plans to prove to Julia that I'm a normal woman living in a normal family."

Her brother snorted. "Normal family. Well, Ferret, I have news for you." He hit the gas pedal hard and the car speeded up.

"No. That's alright." The older Bering-Wells child shook her head. "I know we aren't a normal family. I'm okay with that. I've always been okay with this mess. Because I grew up in it, you know. Same as you, Littlefoot." She nervously tapped her fingers on the dashboard and slightly grinned as Paul shot her a mock-offended glance out of the corners of his eyes in reaction to the nickname. "But Julia has been asking questions from the beginning. I have the feeling she sensed something is wrong. Which is why I wanted to pretend that there is nothing to worry about. So she would stop asking questions. And the moment I try to do that, of course something goes wrong. This isn't normal, Paul. I'm jinxed."

Paul drove the car close to the Warehouse's entrance, stopped it with squealing wheels between several other cars, and then turned off the engine. "Alright!" He exclaimed and then turned his head towards her to fix her with a serious gaze. "It might be a bad idea, but have you thought about not trying to make her believe you're normal? Because, Sarah, you aren't. And sooner or later, she will find out. I'm very sure of it. Julia is quite intelligent, that's why she is your best friend, am I right?"

Sarah leaned over to open the car's door. "You know what you're implying?" She asked, showing him her perfectly arched eyebrow. Then she left the car, closing the door behind herself with a loud bang. Her brother groaned and rolled his eyes while clambering out of the car as well.

"All I'm saying is that she might be the person you should consider telling. We all have this one person. And sooner or later, we want to inform that person about our secret. And maybe you and Julia aren't in love or anything -" He held up his hands in defense when Sarah - who he just had approached from the side - shot him a death glare. "But you're close. Look, Pete maybe has his wife but Momma has Adelaide, and you cannot say she's in love with her."

"I left Julia with Adelaide in the B&B." His sister pursed her lips in disapproval. "I don't even want to think about what she will try to talk her into."

"So the conversation about you making Julia your one is over, right?" Paul surveyed her carefully. "I'm just asking, because I've prepared some ironclad arguments and if you'd agree on talking this out-"

"Conversations you haven't had in the first place cannot be over, Littlefoot." Sarah playfully slapped his shoulder and then walked towards the Warehouse. She stopped mid-walk and looked up to the roof. Recognising the black raven staring at her, she suddenly got a strange feeling. In annoyance, she clicked her tongue and then reached for her remote to open the Umbilicus' door.

"What is it?" Her brother asked, eyeing the raven carefully.

"I was right." Sarah entered the Umbilicus quickly, closely followed by Paul.

"And that's what the raven has told you?" He asked and then grunted when Sarah just shrugged. "Ah, right. I've forgotten I'm talking to the 'Warehouse's decision'. Its love child, the one and only: Sarah Bering-Wells, kettle kid, chosen one... Do you agree on the titles, your majesty, or do I have to-"

"Paul, I can neither explain my connection to the Warehouse nor the raven's way of communicating with the caretaker - or me." Sarah stated and knew he wouldn't be satisfied with it. The problem was that she'd just lied to him about the last part but that she had no interest in talking about being forever destined to serve the Warehouse.

They hastily made it through the tunnel and then almost bumped into Claudia's figure. The caretaker stood there, completely frozen in stone, in the frame of the door to Artie's office, holding a piece of paper.

"Fine!" The older child ranted, obviously angry. "Fine! Here, Julia, meet my aunt! She's currently been turned to stone. Basically she's a damn statue! I hope you don't mind. No, I'm not living in Area 51!"

"Okay, that's enough, Ferret." Paul placed his hands on his sister's shoulders to turn her towards him and looked deeply into her eyes. Sarah had to crane her neck upwards to meet his gaze, because Paul was still the tallest one in the whole Warehouse family. "You will now take a very deep breath." He inhaled the air loudly. "Hear that? Like me."

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut and then breathed calmy through her nose. "I'm calm." She said monotonously.

"Your aura tells me differently." The writer could hear her brother chuckle.

"I'm as calm as this situation allows me to be." She replied, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Alright. Then I'll let you go and we will take a look at how huge this mess is and then we will ponder over how to 'un-mess' it. There's always a solution, Ferret." Paul gently squeezed his sister's shoulder through her coat.

"You are using that nick name rather excessive today, Littlefoot." She smiled softly and then opened her eyes to look up and find her brother's dark eyes, gazing down at her fondly.

"So do you, accident." Paul sticked out his tongue at her. "I'm glad you're home." He said and then patted her shoulder. "So, can we focus again?" He then asked sheepishly.

In reaction, Sarah turned towards Claudia's stone figure and carefully loosened the paper the caretaker was holding.

"'One of the medusa's stones'" The writer read out loud. "God, Claudia's handwriting is a mess. 'Don't look at it!' is written in capital letters and with five exclamation marks."

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend that." Paul scratched his chin in thought. "It'll turn you completely into stone."

Sarah looked at Claudia and then at Paul and then back at Claudia. "You don't say." She mumbled and then read the rest of the note. "'Can't be neutralised.' Thanks, Claud, so we won't waste time on that."

"So, does she offer a solution?" Sarah's brother carefully asked.

"I don't know. Everything else on the note are only numbers." The writer held up the yellow paper so he could take a look at it. "99-95-09-21-18-66." Sarah sighed. "That's an easy one. The year Christina died, The year _The Time Machine_ was written, and then momma's birth date."

Paul was suddenly too quiet for his sister's taste. So she looked up at him and caught him biting his lower lip and scratching his chin excessively.

"What is it?" She asked and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, nothing." Paul shrugged a little. "This is the code number for one of those big lockers down in the Warehouse. You know, where Claudia keeps the important stuff we shouldn't be looking at or know anything about."

"So why do you know that this is a code number for one of those big lockers we shouldn't know anything about?" Sarah asked, a little worried.

He slowly stepped from one foot to the other, looking nervous. "I think we should get that stone." Paul said and made an attempt to take off his coat. Apparently, he planned to cover the object in question in it so they wouldn't run risk to look at it.

Sarah raised both her eyebrows at him and glared. Her brother nervously blinked. His sister was maybe much shorter than him but her Mrs. Frederic glare was very impressive. "Paul?" She asked, her voice soft, even though her body language clearly showed that he was walking on thin ice.

"It might be that there's something in that particular locker I have been working on in the last year... while you were gone." Paul mumbled.

"What is it?" Sarah asked, still scaringly calm.

"You know, I've been practicing for engineering school because I want to be prepared for it after college and..." Her brother babbled but was interrupted by her.

"Paul?"

He took a deep breath before he dared to meet Sarah's eyes again. "You won't like this at all."


	5. Chapter 5

2014

Helena raked her hand through her hair repeatedly while talking to Abigail. She had just told the former therapist about one of the recurring nightmares that had become a staple of her dreamscape since she had been de-bronzed. Abigail had told the Victorian to write her night terrors down immediately upon waking, so that they became available for further analysis: commonalities and points of connection that might reveal their source.

The Victorian was slightly frustrated; to her the connection was clear as day. Every last nightmare she'd had had been about Christina. Unless of course they were about Myka and Adelaide. The faces that featured in her dreamscape were the clear commonalities of her nightmares. The precise events in her dreams were changeable, even though they were similar. Disaster befell those three people. Actually, there was another connection between those dreams: Helena was always involved in those events, sometimes even responsible for them. Invariably, she would jolt upright in bed, her clothes damp with sweat and her heart beating so fast that she was afraid it would burst free of her chest.

Sometimes there was yet another connection between those dreams. In those dreams, a new face joined the old: A young woman, slightly taller than Helena, with dark, curly hair, and bright green eyes. That was all Helena could see of her when she was there. The writer felt she knew the young woman, even though she didn't recognise her face. But those eyes made the Victorian uncomfortable. That woman had shown up in her dreams since HG had lived in Boone. The green-eyed apparition had not become involved; she had merely stood there, watching Helena struggle with losing Christina, Myka or Adelaide. Once, however, she had walked over and had taken the writers hand, smiling fondly at her. Just that once, Helena had felt safe.

"So Myka shows up in your dreams, too?" Abigail asked interestedly.

"Well, she's important to me and I seem to be afraid something could happen to her, yes." Helena concluded while leaning back in her chair and staring at the ceiling.

"And how important would you say she is to you?" Dr. Cho was a little too interested in HG's personal relationship with Myka. At least this was what the Victorian thought. The former therapist redirected the topic of the conversation towards the curly haired woman altogether too often. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about anything else, or that she wasn't interested in Helena's other problems. Nevertheless, the topic of 'Talking to Myka' came up very often - and at some point the writer had begun to get the feeling that it was more Abigail's personal interest than part of the therapy.

Well, of course talking to Myka would also be a step forward for her recovery, but...

"Guess." Helena said with a slightly annoyed tone of voice. Of course she was in love with Myka and of course the therapist knew.

"Have you decided to talk to her, yet?" Abigail went into the topic, Helena could hear her smiling at the words, but something told her that the former therapist wasn't really referring to their love for each other.

The Victorian leaned forwards and mustered her intensively. "Dr. Cho."

Dr. Cho smiled softly. "Abigail."

"Abigail. HG." The writer replied naturally.

"HG?" The therapist seemed to give those letters a try.

"Abigail." HG nodded encouragingly.

"Good." The keeper of the inn smiled again.

"Abigail, I don't know if I want to talk to her... I don't mean talking to her at all. Of course I want to talk to her because we're colleagues and friends. But... this whole situation is..." Helena made a frustrated noise from somewhere low in her throat and squeezed her eyes shut.

"You mean this - how did Claudia describe it back then?- 'time travel and seeing a future' situation?" Abigail eyed Helena questioningly.

"Indeed. That's my problem. She has seen a future in which she has... a child. What does that mean?" The Victorian huffed, still frustrated.

"That you two maybe-" Dr. Cho was immediately interrupted by HG.

"No, that's exactly the problem. That's it. 'Us two'... having children. We both know that I love Myka and that it would be so wonderful to be with her but... I'm afraid that this daughter in the future Myka has seen isn't mine as much as I am afraid that she is mine."

Abigail bowed her head in understanding and was quiet for a brief moment. "But what would it mean for you if that child was yours?"

The writer's eyes darted around the room for several seconds while she was searching for words. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. Helena was obviously very conflicted about this topic.

"A child in this world... with me as a mother. Abigail, that's jus-"

"Ah, I see." The former therapist tiled her head and offered the Victorian a caring look. "Your biggest problem, HG. The problem we want to work on." She leaned forwards in her seat and rubbed her hands. "You were talking about running from the Warehouse and running from Myka and hiding from both of them as Emily Lake. Myka even sending you away." Then, Abigail shook her head. "But HG, you've never been running from the Warehouse or from Myka, isn't that the truth? The Warehouse is the place where you belong and you always knew that. You only needed Claudia to tell you to come back to it. But you didn't really run away from it. The only person you've been running from while being Emily Lake, and while asking for being bronzed, trying to cause an ice age with that Trident, the only person you've been running from, because you don't trust her, is you. And you know that."

Helena stared at the other woman, her face completely blank. Of course she knew that. But hearing it from somebody else stole her breath.

"We want to help you to trust yourself again, HG." Dr. Cho smiled carefully at the writer. "And that means that you should allow yourself to be part of other people's lives. It was a very big step to come back to your family again, HG. It's something you can be proud of. The next step is Myka, the person you love. And I really don't want you denying that. Agent Bering trusts you. She has always trusted you, even back then in Yellow Stone. And because you don't trust yourself you keep doubting her." Now Abigail leaned back in her armchair again, folding her hands in her lap. "You cannot transfer your distrust in yourself onto other people. Myka didn't send you away like you think. She let you go because she knew you needed time to find your trust in youself again."

HG clenched her jaw, staring at the other woman. "Abigail, I can't-"

"You can't what? Trust Myka? Imagine a future in which you have children? Let me assure you that this is not about the future at all. It's about getting you to trust yourself again. And for that you need Myka, the woman who trusts you most." Dr. Cho eyed Helena while the Victorian's face changed quickly between different emotions while she processed those thoughts.

"I don't know if I can do that." Helena replied with a monotonous voice.

"And that's why it's good that you have us - the Warehouse family - to help you, right? There is a saying: People are medicine for people." Dr. Cho smirked and then looked at the clock on the wall. "Well", she sighed, "time's up, I'm sorry. I I'm really looking forward to talking about this more next week, but now I have to call the mattress company. Keeper of the inn and morality booster of all these agents are two jobs that keep one very busy. And to be honest, I did only sign up for one of them."

Helena shook her head slightly to keep herself from overthinking her conversation with the former therapist that much. "Why do we need king size beds all of a sudden, Abigail?" She asked, blinking confusedly.

"Well, I think it's time for a change." The keeper of the inn replied enigmatically.  
____________________________________________________________

2044

"There we go!" Paul carefully wrapped the Medusa stone in his coat, his eyes squeezed shut. Sarah stood with her back towards him, eyeing her parents who were frozen in stone. She let him do it. He had explained that his ability to see auras helped him with seeing the artifact without having his eyes open and looking directly at it.

"Can you explain to me why they are all in the Warehouse?" His sister asked, staring intently at HG's frightened facial expression. She was so used to artifact disturbances that the reason why they were here seemed to be more important to her than the artifact itself or its effect.

"No, I can't." The younger Bering-Wells child opened a big drawer of the old, green cupboard that had stood in the office for years now. With a muffled thud he dropped the stone in it and kicked it close with his foot. Then he took the lock he had taken off another shelf and locked the drawer. "So, well, I think that is safe." He looked around cautiously. "Maybe we should shove Pete in front of it, so nobody will be able to actually open it." Sarah chuckled behind her hand. "What?" Paul grinned. "He put on a little weight in the last years, don't you think?"

Still stiffling her laughter, Sarah nodded her head into the office door's direction. "You still didn't answer my question about what you built there with Claudia's help."

"Ah, then let's go downstairs. And as for my excuse: She helped me and encouraged me without explaining why." Her brother started walking. On the way to the bigger lockers, Sarah called Adelaide to update her on the problem. She explained that Paul seemed to have a plan to solve this situation and asked Adelaide to take good care of Julia. The older woman only replied she had already set up a game of scrabble for them to keep them busy. Sarah rolled her eyes playfully. Regent Adelaide's solution for everything was Scrabble. Bad weather? Scrabble. Sarah's first break-up in high school? Scrabble. An artifact has turned your puppy into a sabre-tooth tiger? Why not try playing scrabble? There's nothing to do? With playing Scrabble, we would have something to do. And often it had helped, at least it distracted one from the problem one was having.

A few minutes later, Paul carefully typed the code into the device on the big locker in a side area of the Warehouse (and big meant big enough to store a smaller elephant in it - why exactly was it a family habit to compare big sizes to elephants in the first place? Sarah didn't know). Her brother didn't even need to look at the paper. Sarah had asked herself for years whether genetics hadn't given him Myka's eidetic memory. She didn't have it and she wasn't sure of Paul, because he didn't tend to boast or to say anything about it at all. Growing up with a mother who remembered everything was annoying and so Paul and his sister seemed to have a secret agreement on not talking about that at all. Except for their occassional eyerolls if their mother had remembered when they exactly had last helped with the housework or had stated the exact number of seconds until their grounding was over. Again.

The older Bering-Wells child shook her head at her own thoughts as the locker's heavy door opened. Of course Paul didn't need an eidetic memory for this. He'd said that he had been in that locker often in the last year because he had been working on whatever it was he had been working on. During the whole walk down here he had made a big mystery out of the nature of his invention and Sarah was sure by now that she wouldn't really like it at all.

As they entered the inside of the container-sized locker, her brother turned on the lights in it and Sarah's view fell on a big object which was shrouded in white sheets. It seemed to be some sort of bigger machine. Of course it was. Paul liked to tinker with all sorts of devices, like Helena. That was something Sarah had no interest in. Not the tiniest bit. She still could remember her momma's disappointed look when her daughter had yawned profusely in reaction to a long lecture about fuses.

"Hm, that screen is new." Paul noted while mustering the room. "And that memory stick as well." He pointed at a small table with a few smaller devices on it.

His sister blinked at him. "Eye for the details?" She asked innocently.

"No." He took the stick. "It's my lab. I know how I left it, Ferret."

Sarah surveyed the white sheets and shrugged, a little helplessly. "So, what do we got here?"

"Let's first take a look at what's on the memory stick." Her brother replied while linking it to the screen. "I need to find out what Claudia had planned about this."

The older sibling carefully tugged at one of the sheets but turned around when she heard Claudia's voice from the screen. "Hello angels!" The caretaker said with an official tone of voice as she had appeared on the screen. "Have you replied 'Hello Charlie!'? I hope so!"

Sarah and Paul rolled their eyes a little.

"So. If you see this, there seems to have been an accident in the Warehouse with - if my research is right - one of the Medusa stones. I don't know at all if that's right. Because well, I'm missing some memory. HG and Myka have tried to update me on it... But it's all a little ... messy. And I think I'm going to find out myself if that incident in the past will start making any more sense. Well, if you're looking at this now, it will make sense at some point, I guess."

Sarah leaned over to her brother. "She's around fifty now, right? Even though she looks like thirty. But she babbles like a ten years old. Just like Pete." Paul snorted in reaction.

"Well, less babbling, more explaining I think." Claudia spoke on. "Good. Uhm, to reverse the very uhm... paralysing effect of that stone, there are four smaller stones needed. The emotion elements. I know that sounds utterly cheesy and all, but I'm not in charge of giving those things names. Well, we have had two in the Warehouse for about 50 years now: Fear and Grief. They are in one of the smaller lockers upstairs. HG and Myka found Wrath thirty years ago in New York. But there's still one of them that's lost: Euphoria. Combined they uff... would unleash emotions strong enough to loosen the... stone." The caretaker made a dramatic pause and shot them a serious look.

"Well, but there's a thing. I'm pretty sure I found it thirty years ago. The problem is, I'm not that sure anymore due to some memory loss. So we lost it again. And by 'we' I mean Sarah."

Claudia made another pause, long enough to give Sarah's "What the hell?" and utterly confused looks and hand gestures some room. Paul looked again very nervous.

"So, Paul. I think you already know what that means: Sarah was with me that day. The date and destination in the machine is already set up by me. The only thing you have to do is to talk her into doing what she has to do." Claudia grinned a little mischievously. "And thinking about that part, I'm really glad that I'm probably frozen in stone or busy with other things and don't have to face her when you do it. I wish you strong nerves. Goodbye, angels."

"Goodbye, Charlie!" Paul tried. "Well, her reference talk is sometimes quite funny." He made a noise of pain as Sarah gripped onto his shirt's fabric to pull him close and growl into his ear.

"What the heck is going on, Paul?"

He inhaled the air loudly through his nose and seemed to struggle for words. "Well, you have to remember that this works differently than your watch."

"Whydoyoumentionthewatchwepromisedtonevertalkaboutagain?!" Sarah's voice cracked.

"Sarah, calm down! Please. Calm. Everything is alright. Remember: The machine works differently. Everything that happened that day has already happened. You cannot change a thing. Your watch trauma won't happen again." He carefully patted her shoulder, smiling maniacally. "Now, you may want to take a dee-"

"No!" Sarah let go of him to walk over to the white sheets and rip one of them away. She stared at a big chair with a lot of technical devices and cables linked to it. Even though it was now Paul's design and looked utterly modern and not anything like the machine she had seen several times in her life, she knew exactly what she just had unveiled: H. G. Wells' damn time machine.


	6. Chapter 6

2014

Claudia smached her lips sleepily while waking up. Then she groaned in reaction to the pain in her neck and quickly opened her eyes.

Artie's office. At least the shape looked like it, because now it wasn't just covered in the remaining leftovers of HG's and Steve's candy excess, but also in a lot of more files and some random, not particularly dangerous artifacts. The redhead looked around to spot Steve lying on one of those couches, a file covering his face.

They had fallen asleep over research for Claudia's 'find Mrs. F an artifact' problem. And of course they hadn't come even a single step closer to its resolution. The outcome for Claudia was a stiff and sore neck, because the caretaker had fallen asleep on one of those plastic chairs in front of her computer an-

"HELL, THAT HURTS!" Claudia groaned again and rubbed her neck in hopes to soothe this agony, but failed entirely.

"Watch the birds!" Steve jolted upright on the couch, sending the file flying through the room. Its papers flew everywhere and then it collided with the green cupboard. Weakly, Claudia applauded.

"9.8 points for Mr. Jinks. The jury is impressed by his technique." She stated.

Jinks looked around the room, seeming to struggle with recognising where he was.

"Artie's office." Claudia tried to help him find his memory.

"Ah." He said while staring at the floor and the files on it. Then, he suddenly looked a little more awake. "It's a mess."

"Well, you and HG started this; we only continued your attempt to turn the office into modern art. I know I'm the mother hen here and I should probably make you keep Artie's office clean while he's gone or something. But actually, that's not my division." She said, while slowly rising from the chair, trying to avoid moving her neck.

"Coffee." The redhead mumbled and headed for the small kitchen. She shot a quick look at the digital clock on the microwave. "Oh god, Jinksy, we spent all night here."

She heard a loud bang and poked her head out of the kitchen. Steve had collided with a shelf.

"You do look like you need coffee, too." The caretaker declared, mustering him rubbing his forehead. "Or is that not Zen?"

He blinked at her, it wasn't very clear if he was confused or just numbed by the pain. "Zen?"

"The buddhism thing. Does it go with coffee?" Claudia thoughtfully narrowed her eyes at Steve.

Her friend suddenly groaned a little and squeezed his eyes shut, while massaging his temples.

"Steve?" Suddenly, Claudia was worried. "Is everything alright?"

"Headache." He replied through his teeth, still massaging his head.

"Well, my friend, you just ran straight into a shelf!" Shrugging, Claudia waved her hands in direction of the mentioned object right in front of him. "With your head first!"

He now started rubbing the spot between his eyebrows. "Yeah, you're right. It's just..." He opened his eyes. "Okay, now it's gone."

He looked up at his friend and then passed her, heading for the water boiler in the kitchen. Immediately, he started setting it up. "I think caffeine will make me 'Zen' enough to clean this mess we caused. But I prefer Chai."

____________________________________________________________________

2044

Sarah strode out of the locker with ground-eating steps, followed closely by Paul. The boy made a quick grab for her shoulder, trying to hold her back. She spun around to glare at him with her eyes widened, tears forming in them. The older child really didn't want to hear what he was about to say.

"Sarah, trust me, this is different." Paul gently pulled her into a tight hug. She started fighting him, shifting, trying to get some space between them, but he was so tall and strong. "I know... I know that you're worried and I know that you're struggling. I kno-"

"No!" She interrupted him and tried to pull away but he didn't let her go. "You know nothing about this. You know nothing about this, Paul. There are only three people who remember my time travel and you aren't one of them. You aren't one of them. So don't even dare to say you know what it feels like." Finally, she could grab his arm and twist it a little. She knew he was as good in martial arts as her, but she didn't care.

Now he gave her some space, she turned around, away from him, rubbing her forehead.

"Then tell me." He pleaded. "Sarah, tell me. Tell me what you're struggling with. I want to help you."

She shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "I can't." She didn't even dare to think about this, about what she'd seen. About what she had caused. Sarah had struggled with the circumstances of her time travel and the outcome for the last five years. She was the only one to remember. The only one who knew that her parent's story had been a different one. And that she had changed it. She didn't know how, because she had been busy with something completely different back then. But it was discovering her culpability, slowly, step by step, that had hurt her.

"Sarah." Her brother placed his hand on her shoulder again, this time more softly. "Do you really think I can't see that something's gnawing at you? Do you really think I don't know that after your time travel, you started looking at our parents differently? Do you really think I don't know that you ran away three years ago after Artie died? You're doing reading sessions, I know, but Sarah, I'm not dumb. You're afraid your family is falling apart and you don't dare sharing your dark secret with us."

His sister only looked up to the ceiling, blinking away her tears and pulling her shoulder away from his hand.

"Damn it, Sarah. Talk to me, for crying out loud! I'm your brother, I'm here to help you!" Paul yelled desperately.

Slowly, his sister turned around. She looked at him, her eyes reddened. There were no tears falling. The girl had managed to blink them away.

"You cannot help me with this, Paul." Sarah lowered her gaze to the ground, avoiding his eyes while talking. "That's the problem. There is nothing to help, there's nothing to change. There can't be anything undone or set right."

"Set right?" He glared at her, confused. "Sarah, do you know what you're saying? You've set everything right. I know you've seen awful things during your time travel. You've seen our mother die, again and again. But remember, focus: You saved her."

"After I killed her!" Sarah yelled at him. "I killed her, Paul. I was the damn cause! Don't tell me this story had a good ending."

"But you undid it. You set that right. It's more than five years later and mom is alright. She's alive. Well, she's currently upstairs, frozen in stone, but she's alright. You didn't change anything." The older child could tell that Paul was utterly bewildered by her words.

"Yes, you're right." Sarah waved her hands in dismissal and tried to turn around but he didn't let her go. "I didn't change anything."

"Ferret." He said, his voice strict. "You don't have to carry this burden alone. Whatever it is. I am your brother, your family. Share with me!"

Sarah inhaled the air deeply and looked at him with her glistening green eyes. There was his typical slight, almost unrecognisable smile he kept showing when he scrutinized someone's aura. When he observed one's thoughts without knowing them, when he started knowing more about one than one knew oneself.

There was no point in lying to him or in keeping this secret from him, now that he had started looking at her like this. With his eyes sad, his face showing that he was flustered, but still the corners of his mouth curving upwards slightly. He watched Sarah, thinking.

"I undid the accident that killed mom." The girl spoke slowly, like she was trying out what those words sounded like. Like she could agree on telling this lie to herself. Even though she knew better, she knew that she had also caused this accident. "You are right, Paul. But there is more to it. More, and I don't know how to tell you without sounding insane."

"Try." He simply waved his hand a little. She was glad he didn't actually verbally express that every story in the Warehouse sounded a little insane.

"Mom, momma and I, we're all connected to this watch. You know that. Because our grief gave birth to this artifact. On the day that didn't happen because I undid it even though I caused it." Sarah stared at the tips of her boots while talking. She struggled with finding words.

Paul nodded, understanding. "I know. That's why you remember and I don't."

"Yes. But there is something they don't remember. But I do. I think mom knows what happened and maybe she told momma already. But they don't talk about it because we're all well now. I'm the only one to remember, Paul." She looked deeply into his eyes while fighting her tears.

"Remember what?" He asked, shrugging a little, helpless.

"That their past was a different one. That the stories they've told about themselves were different than they are now. That mom used to have a scar on her stomach she now lacks. Instead she has a scar on her shoulder. The one I caused. But the scar on her stomach is missing, because that part of their story is missing. Because it changed." Sarah sniffed.

"What are you trying to say?" Her brother blinked in confusion, but she could see how his eyes darted to that fine silver line on her face, under her eye. The small scar that had showed up on her face after her time travel. It was almost invisible, but Sarah saw it every day in the mirror, and was reminded of what had happened.

"That Agent Myka Bering was once shot in the Warehouse. To be precise, it was the day Claudia became caretaker. Mom was shot and momma was so afraid she might die that day that she declared her love to her. Mom survived barely, but kept a scar on her stomach from that day. I do remember this story. I'm the only one." The girl explained.

"Sarah, mom never got shot in the Warehouse." Paul's voice showed that his confusion was growing.

"Yes, you're right Paul. She never got shot in the Warehouse. Because I changed that part. Now they tell a different story. About that hotel in New York. I know. I know both stories because I'm the only one to remember that they used to tell a different one. I didn't wake up in a different future. The butterfly effect wasn't strong enough to change it completely. But their stories have changed Paul, because I changed their past." She looked up at him, the tears now running freely. "So, I would appreciate not having to travel through time anymore." She slowly turned around and walked away. Her brother was silent and she appreciated it. There had to be a different solution.

"The ink in which our lives are inscribed is indelible." Sarah froze at Paul's words. He made a brief pause and then went on speaking, his voice was strong and booming, and he sounded a little proud. His sister had no idea why.

"I've seen that artifact you've come into contact with, Sarah. I've seen that watch. Its aura... The whole thing. It's such a powerful artifact. That isn't normal, Ferret. Nothing like that is normal, even in the Warehouse. Even here that artifact is not normal." She could hear him taking a step closer. "Nothing is comparable to it. Maybe it is because the women who made it appear are as powerful as the artifact. Especially you, kettle kid. I don't know. But I know a lot about momma's time machine. I've rebuilt it, made it better. And this machine follows one rule, this one important rule: The ink in which our lives are inscribed is indelible." Now he took a few more steps towards her, closing the gap between them and putting his hand on her shoulder. "You cannot change anything with it. No matter how hard you try. Everything that has happened that day has already happened."

She slowly turned around and focussed him.

"The only way to change something, to undo things, is to not go into the time machine. To not go there. Ferret, I don't want to say this, but it's like you already climbed into the machine. You've already been there. It has already happened. So you cannot change a thing." Paul carefully brushed a wild curl of Sarah's hair behind her ear. She shivered. She knew what he was saying; she understood. But she couldn't even think about time travelling again.

"Paul, I can't."

"What if... what if you caused things back then, important things... that caused our present? What if you made our present happen, Sarah?" Sarah looked up at him, thinking about this. Was this different from changing their past? What did it mean?

"Claudia said that our parents updated her on the events. They know something, they know you've been there. Don't you think there's a reason they've never told us? A reason why Claudia never told us? Maybe they want it to happen." He slowly tilted his head. "The only way you could ruin our present is by not using the time machine."

His sister only stared at him, pondering over his words. Of course Paul had chosen his words wisely, he knew what to say to make her actually think about doing what he had asked her to do. When so much really depended on her, what could she do to let it happen differently? And there was still the question of rescuing their family upstairs without the time machine. It was impossible. Claudia had shown them a way. She was the caretaker, for crying out loud. Even though she sometimes behaved like a ten year old child, even though she always made silly references to movies and old TV shows, she was the wisest woman Sarah had ever met. And Sarah had met Mrs. Frederic, even before the woman had become this ill. Claudia had shown the Bering-Wells children a way. A path that it was absolutely essential she take.

Suddenly, the older child could see the slight smile on her brother's face growing. She was sure he had watched her aura while she had been thinking.

"God, you're so much like your mother." Paul grinned and patted Sarah's shoulder.

"Which one?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Both of them, actually."


	7. Chapter 7

2014

Myka almost flopped down face first onto her bed but then thought better of it. That bed was still broken, probably it would fall apart completely if she did that. So the agent carefully lowered herself onto it to bury her face against the pillow and let out a muffled groan. The trip to the B&B had been exhausting, but she didn't feel that she'd be able to rest properly now.

Pete had sent her home after telling her that he would take the artifact to the Warehouse so she could get some 'me-time' as he had expressed it.

Myka had avoided 'me-time' during the last weeks because it always led to her losing her head, overthinking the situation with Helena. Now wasn't any different.

Her friend's words had had a huge impact in Myka's mind. Maybe she really did think too much about this future and time travel thing. Before it had happened, the agent hadn't lost any thought about children. Why should she now? Clearly, it wasn't like Myka was ready for children herself. Why should she waste that much energy thinking about finding ways to talk Helena into it? Especially considering the fact that Helena was further away from thinking about children than herself. Maybe Myka's mind had taken a few too steps too far into this too quickly. Future thoughts were for the future, right? As long as they weren't about building loan contracts or pension funds or anything like that.

Maybe she should start thinking about getting Helena to date her instead. Dating HG sounded good, especially now that she was indeed back to the Warehouse. Why not put some effort into that? And maybe dating could lead to a different future - one which was still a good future? There they were again, those thoughts about the future. She should really stop having them. Myka internally laughed at herself. Maybe she should try making money with that. Losing her head over the future. Fortuneteller Myka Bering will not tell you your future - but she will worry a lot about it if you want.

_Okay, distraction!_

The agent rose from her bed as carefully as she had lain down on it and left her room, taking the stairs down and heading the library.

In the hall, as she passed the living room door, she froze at the words of a young voice she knew well:

"Agent Bering!"

Myka turned her long neck to look into the living room. There on the couch, setting up a board game on the coffee table, sat Adelaide, smiling shyly at her.

"Oh!" Myka gave her a friendly but insecure smile. "Hello, Adelaide." The agent walked into the living room slowly, eyeing the girl carefully. Adelaide rose from the couch and reached out her small hand to shake hers.

"I'm here with Helena for a few days." The child seemed to have the need to explain her presence. "We sometimes meet like this: sleepovers, board games, lectures on science, Indian food. Dad brought me here."

"Ah! That's... nice, Adelaide. I think Helena appreciates that." Myka's eyes immediately started darting through the room. "Where is she, by the way?" The agent had the feeling that Adelaide narrowed her eyes at her for a second, but then the girl shrugged and pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Kitchen. Tea."

Myka's head turned into the direction of the kitchen's door and she became a little nervous.

"So..." She briefly bit her lip. "Then... you two will have fun... I guess."

The girl tilted her heard while looking thoughtfully at her. The curly haired woman got a strange feeling at her gaze and took a step back. To go to the library. Yes.

"We're about to play some Scrabble, Agent Bering. Would you maybe... like to join us?" The girl asked with a very careful tone of voice.

"Oh... Adelaide. I- I-" Wonderful, now she'd started stuttering in front of Adelaide. Myka struggled to keep herself from rolling her eyes at herself. "I don't want to bother you two, I mean... you probably want some time alone with He-"

"HELENA!" Adelaide suddenly yelled into the direction of the kitchen, causing Myka to jump almost imperceptibly.

"Yes, dear?" The Victorian's head appeared in the door between the kitchen and the living room. She looked at Adelaide and then her eyes widened as she spotted Myka. "Oh, hello, Myka." Trying hard to look casual, Myka waved weakly at her.

"Is it okay if Agent Bering joins our Scrabble game? I asked her but she's concerned you wouldn't want her. But I think a third player would be awesome. I believe Miss Bering has a good vocabulary, so she can check on your made-up 'I'm a British novelist from the Victorian age' words." The girl pleaded.

HG eyed Myka with slightly furrowed eyebrows, looking quite nervous as well. "Well, Adelaide. Does she want to? Do you want to play Scrabble with us, Myka?"

The younger agent's eyes wandered from Helena to Adelaide to the coffee table with the board game and then again to Adelaide, avoiding to look at Helena for a second time.

_Okay, here it is, Agent Bering!_ Was that Pete's voice inside her head? _The chance to get the booty._ It really was. _Now you can take an innocent step in her direction, cling to her and show her that you would like to have her in your life._ Myka swallowed. Hard.

Pete's voice became now a little angrier. _Don't let her go again!_

Myka's eyes darted up, meeting Helena's, who now leaned in the door frame, waiting for her answer.

"Sure..." The younger woman shrugged a little. "Why not? I mean... I was about to read a little but since you two are here... Why spend my time all alone?"

___________________________________________________________

2044

"So, Claudia says I was with her?" Sarah asked while plugging in a cable into the time machine. Paul had told her what to do; following instructions was easy enough. Her brother was currently busy working on the touch screen on the time machine. "Yes, she also mentioned the memory loss. The year is... '2014'." He read out loud. "Wow, she meant exactly 30 years into the past."

"So, that means I'm her?" The older child asked interestedly while clambering into the big chair of the time machine. It all looked very different from the machine she remembered. Paul had a thing for robots and the classic movie Pacific Rim. Of course the time machine now looked like Sarah was about to beat up gigantic alien lizards.

"Probably. It's a little hard to find out, I have to go deeper into the data... Why is this encrypted? Oh, come on, Claud!" He cursed a little while working busily on the screen. "Can you do a proper Claudia?" He asked, not taking his eyes from the screen.

"Well, someone once told me I start talking like her when I get tired, so that shouldn't be too hard a task." Carefully, Sarah put on the head devices. "You've said you've made the machine better? Does momma know?"

"No. She doesn't know I worked on this at all. I don't think she'd appreciate it if she knew I'm working on her old stuff." Her brother shook his head. Sarah froze, a little confused.

"Are we talking about the same person? I mean, I can still remember the high pitched squealing noise she made when you took apart your first fuse. We both know she doesn't make high pitched squealing noises that easily."

"But this is the time machine." Paul huffed. "You know she has quite a similar opinion on time travel as you have now. You know I'm not allowed to work on the dangerous stuff." He rose from his chair and took a smaller, blinking device from the desk.

"'Dangerous stuff' like becoming a Warehouse agent?" Sarah asked, trying to sound innocent.

"For example..." Her brother replied, completely missing her raised eyebrows and knowing facial expression. "So there's this." He said instead, like it would explain the device's purpose he was currently sticking to Sarah's forehead.

"Oh, right. The famous 'this'. What does 'this' do in particular?" Carefully, Sarah reached out her hand to touch it, but he slapped her hand away.

"Well, first it measures your brain activity. So I'll know when something goes wrong." Paul explained the purpose of the device. Sarah cocked an eyebrow at him.

"You mean 'if'. 'If something goes wrong'."

"Yes, of course. 'If'. And second, it allows me to communicate with you through time." Paul pulled duct tape out of the pocket of his trousers and Sarah turned her head away from him, because she really didn't want him sticking the devices and cables with the tape to her head. Disappointedly, he sighed and put the tape away.

"It lets you do what?" The girl stared at him in confusion.

"Well, you're not going on this trip alone, Sarah." He briefly looked into her eyes and smiled. "I've already said I've made this time machine better." With nimble hands, Paul adjusted the devices on his sister's head, not using the duct tape. "Do you remember that old movie 'The Matrix'? It's quite like that. It allows you to hear my voice in your head while being in Claudia's body. I will be able to hear whatever you're hearing and I can talk to you over a microphone. Yeah, I know I'm a genius, you can congratulate me later. My teachers are called H. G. Wells, Artie Nielsen, and Claudia Donovan." Paul briefly shook a pair of invisible pom-poms above his head. "At first I want to thank them and then of course my mom and my sister, who don't understand a thing of what the others have been teaching me, but who always believed in me."

"So if I wanted to talk to you, I would have to speak out loud?" She asked interestedly, ignoring his self-aggrandizing awards ceremony speech.

"Yup. So I can help you solve the artifact puzzle. But still, try to not attract too much attention by talking to me. Try to not attract too much attention in general, Ferret." Paul gently patted her shoulder.

"Why don't you sit in here time travelling and I watch you and do silly comments on it?" The older child asked and reached out her hand to punch his shoulder, but he slipped away.

"Because you struggle with differentiating a remote from a fuse and my head would probably be melted after about five seconds." He winked before again paying attention to the screen. "So, give me your best Claudia imitation, please. God, it's good I'm with you playing her. So I can do the techno babble for you."

"Dude, that's totally not nice!" Sarah glared at him. "If you were my child you'd be able to play the e-guitar. No one has taught you to play the guitar. Have you looked at your face? You would totally rock as a rock star with the awesome e-guitar I built for you."

He scrunched his nose, looking a little bit disappointed.

"Geez, Paul, this family is like the Addams family of weird evil science." His sister gave it another try.

"Better." Paul nodded in approval.

"How much time do I have? I forgot the-" Sarah was interrupted by him.

"Well 22 hours and 19 minutes until the first... drop."

"Drop?" Sarah groaned, a little annoyed. "Oh come on, Paul. You're becoming Claudia with the references now. And also: What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the 22 hours and 19 minutes are still a thing, but I found a way to strech them a little. If you need more time, I'll be reloading and sending you back again. You won't even feel it that... much. Maybe a little dizzyness and a head ache or something, and then it's fine." He again pulled something out of his trouser's pocket. It was a smaller device, which he linked to the screen with a smaller cable. "This allows me to do that. I hope you've eaten well today and you've just been to the toilet."

"Wait, wait, wait." Anxiously, Sarah eyed the device. "Are you telling me you just linked that device that gives you the ability to do this 'drop' to the time machine?"

"As I told you this morning, I had a thing in-"

"You haven't tried that out yet?!" She sat up. "Am I your guinea pig, Paul?"

He reached his hand over his keyboard and firmly pressed her down to the chair again. "It will work, I'm the one who built it."

"Paul, your teachers are all people whose inventions worked fine but then crashed at some point!" The older child weakly boxed his arm to loosen his grip. "Have you checked on the energy supply? Oh god, I have to call Adelaide and Julia so they'll save me from your stupid experiments. Remember when you blew up the B&B?!"

"This time, I've checked everything, Ferret. It'll work." With his other hand, Paul quickly typed something onto his keyboard.

"Objection!" Sarah shouted. "Call Adelaide and Julia!"

"Good night, Sarah." He grinned brightly at her.

"Paul!"

But Sarah's brother firmly hit a button on his keyboard and the older Bering-Wells child could feel how her eyes closed by themselves. She couldn't stop them. And then, for a short moment, everything was black.


	8. Chapter 8

2014

Claudia put the last artifact files back into the cupboard. She knew she was supposed to sort them alphabetically, but she also knew that sometime during the next few days, Myka would probably show up here and invent a new sorting system for them. So what did it matter? All Claudia had to do was make the files look like they were in order. Like she had done with the artifacts they had taken a look at last night. Which now lay on the redhead's desk.

Out of nowhere, the caretaker got a strange feeling. She paused, listening to herself and that living-thinking entity that was the Warehouse. It was part of her personality and she had the feeling it had just had a moment of confusion, pausing its usual work and pondering over something happening.

The redhead looked up at the ceiling of Artie's office, confused as well. _Yes?_ , she silently asked, not wanting to worry Steve, who swept up the sweet crumbs behind her back. It was like the Warehouse shrugged in reaction to her words, still observing what it had found. Then it seemed to realize what the cause for its confusion had been. Now, it became utterly confusing for Claudia, when the Warehouse seemed to try to hide the reason for its own bafflement and went on working on the artifact observation. If the caretaker hadn't known better, she would have said it was twiddling its thumbs, whistling, and trying to look innocent.

Behind Claudia, Steve groaned slightly. The caretaker turned around and found him leaning on Artie's desk, firmly gripping onto it and clutching his broom tightly in the other hand.

"Jinksy, I am getting the feeling you didn't just have candy with HG but also booze, or something that makes you high. You're behaving like you've got a hangover." Claudia told him, still pondering over the reason for the Warehouse's behaviour. Steve didn't reply but rubbed his forehead, his eyes squeezed shut. "Oh, this wasn't a comfortable trip at all." He mumbled, more to himself than to her. His friend glared at him, confused again. "Are you alright, Jinks?"

He didn't react to her.

"Jinksy?" She asked, stepping closer when he still failed to react.

"Agent Steve Jinks?" Claudia said now in her Mrs. F tone of voice. She had practiced that, in front of a mirror, including the raised eyebrow.

Her former partner froze and then opened his eyes to look at her. And he looked horrified, which was utterly mortifying, and yes, confusing.

"Claudia?" He asked like he had never seen her before today.

"Steve?" The redhead gave back, in a similar tone of voice.

"Claudia?" Steve asked again, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Steve?" Claudia shrugged, rising her hands.

"Steve?" Steve now asked, looking more baffled.

"Claudia." She replied, still unsure why they were doing this name thing.

"PETE!" The main door flew open with a bang and the owner of the name in question appeared in it, holding a static bag triumphantly in front of him. "That's another snag for Bering and Lattimer, best artifact searching agents ever. That makes 4 for us and 3 for the second A team, Jinks and Wells." Pete did an exaggerated celebration jig on his way to Artie's desk where he dropped the purple bag. Then, he pretended to dust off his hands. Claudia's gaze fell on his black eye. She raised her eyebrows, pointing at the bruise.

"Well, at least Jinks and Wells have always come home in one piece until now. What happened?" She asked, trying to exchange a look with Steve, who stared bewilderedly at his own hands, the broom leaning long forgotten on the desk. "And also: hi, Pete."

"Ah, that." Pete waved his hand in dismissal. "That had nothing to do with the artifact or its impressive snag. You should have seen Myka, she was awesome." He plopped himself down on the top of Artie's desk. "That black eye is from some sort of really rude New Yorker, who didn't like my face the way it was. But I'm thinking about telling the ladies some different stories. What do you think: maybe I saved a child from a gang of small-time criminals? They all had knives and I almost got stabbed, but I was able to beat them all and now they are in prison and I'm the hero?"

"Let me guess." Claudia grinned while she did the math. "You had an argument with someone in the hotel and Myka had to rescue your ass. It's always that way."

"Well, this time it was a little different." Pete admitted and shrugged. "I tried to protect her but yes, she had to rescue my ass in the end. I wasn't prepared for that guy reacting this way to my attempt to calm him down."

Pete looked questioningly at Steve, who was now raking his hand carefully through his short hair. "Are you alright, Jinksy? You look a little... well, tired and confused."

"What?" Steve asked, his voice trembling. "I'm alright, Pete. Everything is... alright. I just had a rough night."

"He and HG killed a lot of sugar yesterday afternoon and then he did some overnight artifact research with me." Claudia explained, but narrowed her eyes at her former partner, because she still wasn't sure if there was maybe more to that story. She had a strange feeling about this, a very strange feeling.

Pete looked at the heap of crumbs and leftovers of sweets on the floor, right next to Jinks. "Are those my chocolate chips cookies? Because they look like- Wait!" He suddenly froze, holding up his hands. Claudia looked at his face, which quickly changed into a slightly panicky one.

"Pete?" She asked, worried.

"I'm getting a strange vibe." He replied, firmly closing his eyes like he was listening to himself. Steve glared at him and Claudia really though that his face suddenly looked a little too worried. "What kind of vibe?" Jinksy asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"A dangerous one." Pete replied, but his voice was shaking while his eyes slowly widened. "About myself. A vibe about myself. Steve, I'm sorry!"

Then suddenly, everything happened very quickly. "ARE THOSE MY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?!" Pete yelled loudly, jumping down from the table and spinning around on his heels. In the same motion, his fist flew forward, right at Steve's head. The other agent didn't see the hit coming, but still avoided it by ducking impressively fast. Jinks looked a little clumsy while doing it; Claudia had the feeling he wasn't really in control of his long limbs. On the contrary, tumbling sideways, the agent tripped over his own feet and fell, performing an impressive but still awkward somersault on the ground.

Meanwhile, Pete went on yelling at him. "You're HG's partner, Steve! HG's partner! You should take care of her so she feels better and they finally talk to each other! They have to talk to each other!"

Pete lifted his foot to start kicking Steve in the guts, and Claudia woke up from her state of surprised immobility.

She reached forwards, gripping his arm tightly, but her raging friend was still the stronger one. He shook her off with a simple movement of his arm, which made Claudia's neck crack a little. She groaned at the sharp pain, but pulled herself together quickly. She also realized her neck had actually gotten better.

So she teleported to Pete's other side, trying to attack him with her entire body weight. "Pete, calm down! What is going on?"

"You're an idiot, Claud! You should take care of them! Of both of them! You brought HG here, but they are still avoiding each other! That's not better than HG still being in Boone!"

Claudia wasn't short, but she was lightweight and so Pete had no problems shaking her off again. The caretaker was really worried about him. The only explanation was that he'd come into contact with an artifact. Surely, they could solve this, but first they had to calm down the roaring rage that Pete currently had and that wasn't exactly a small task.

Claudia fell down, groaning. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Steve jumping forward. He still looked like he wasn't fully in control over his arms and legs, but he ducked impressively under Pete's attempt to hit him with one of those plastic chairs. The flat of Jinks' hand reached forward and forcefully made contact with Pete's sternum. The older agent groaned in reaction and then made no noise at all, because he clearly had to struggle to breathe. Meanwhile, Steve's other hand closed tightly around the other man's arm which was holding the chair. Claudia was impressed how nimbly her former partner used both his hands to force Pete's hand open. Their raging friend groaned and dropped the chair. Immediately, Steve twisted Pete's arm onto his back and tackled him. They both fell to the ground, Pete right on his face, Steve following him closely, pushing his knee into the older agent's back painfully with the force of the fall. Jinks twisted Pete's arm up further as the other agent groaned and shifted, trying to get rid of Steve on top of him, failing miserably.

Claudia was impressed. She had seen such fighting skills on HG or on Myka, but never on her former partner. She stood up quickly, asking him if he was alright, but Steve paid her no mind. Instead, he leaned closely to Pete's ear.

"Listen, Pete." He said and his tone of voice was suddenly very gentle. "That's not you. We both know that it's not you. That's wrath. It's not yours. So please, concentrate on me, concentrate on my voice." Steve shifted a little, so he could lean closer to Pete's ear. "I'm your friend and we will find a way to solve this, Pete. You've clearly come into contract with an artifact. But I know mo- HG and Myka will find it in New York. All you have to do is to calm down a little."

Claudia stared at Steve. What was he even talking about? HG and Myka in New York? They were both in the B&B right now, with Abigail. And if anybody was going to be sent out to snag whatever artifact it was that Pete had come into contact with, it would be HG and Steve. They were partners and the caretaker couldn't be sure if Myka hadn't-

_Oh frak, Myka!_

Turning away from Steve, who was still speaking very calmly into Pete's ear, Claudia reached for the Farnsworth on Artie's desk and called HG. Whose face appeared on the screen after a few buzzes. The Victorian looked utterly displeased about the disturbance and didn't even really look at Claudia. She seemed to be busy with something else behind the Farnsworth.

"It's my day off." She said, annoyance showing clearly in her voice, underscored by her typical eyeroll. "Adelaide is here and I'm winning this round of Scrabble. So I do hope you have a rather good reason to disturb me."

"Yeah, quite a rather good reason." Claudia replied and briefly eyed Jinks and Pete on the floor. They hadn't changed their positions yet and the redhead couldn't hear what Steve was telling their friend. But the older agent seemed to be calming down recognizably.

"Uhm, HG? Is maybe Mykes anywhere near you?" The caretaker asked in an innocent tone of voice.

"Yes, and she has her own Farnsworth." HG rolled her eyes again and then made attempt to close the communication device, but Claudia quickly told her otherwise.

"Stop! HG, is Myka alright? Could you maybe take a look at her for me?" Now the writer finally looked at the redhead, her eyebrows furrowed worriedly.

"Should there be something wrong?" She asked surprised.

"Well, I think you would clearly recognize if there was something wrong, HG. She's not... like ...beating the crap out of you or anything else?" _Or is kissing you passionately?_ Claudia thought. _We still don't know what that artifact is doing, maybe it just unleashes strong emotions._

HG sighed and apparently turned the Farnsworth around. The caretaker could now see a scrabble board and Myka, who seemed to be deep in thought, glancing at the board and trying to arrange something on the retainer right in front of her. She had apparently joined in this round of Scrabble. Adelaide sat right next to her, arranging stones on the game board.

"Okay, looks alright. HG?"

The Brit's face now appeared on the screen again. "Yes?" She asked, now sounding a little bit more concerned.

"Could we maybe talk in private?" Claudia pleaded. HG stood up and the redhead could see her walking through the B&B. A few seconds later, the Victorian looked at the caretaker with one eyebrow raised, clearly a sign Claudia that was now allowed to speak.

"So, uhm. It seems Pete has come into contact with an artifact in New York."

"Oh." HG replied dryly. She didn't look surprised at all.

"So, he was about to renovate Artie's office, using only his own body, if you see what I mean. Oh... and a chair." Claudia gave the agent a shy smile and grinned when she nodded.

"So, I think you and Steve have to go to New York and find out what they've come into contact with."

"I can't." Steve said while he stood up from restraining Pete. The older agent lay on the ground, wearing Ernst Kohlschütter's Night Cap which had been lying on Claudia's desk with the other artifacts. Pete smiled happily, his eyes closed firmly, and snored.

"He's asleep!" Claudia exclaimed, a little worried.

"Well," Steve replied, "he's calm when sleeping, isn't he?"

"Claudia, I can't go to New York with Steve, I have Adelaide here." HG stated in a pleading tone of voice.

"I can't go to New York." Steve mentioned in an equally pleading tone of voice and looked very nervous. "I have... such a bad headache. And I think I'm getting ill and... I feel extremely exhausted. Helena and Myka should go together. I... uhm... don't think Myka is affected by that artifact like Pete is. And also it looked like... Pete needed a trigger so the rage was ...happening." He shrugged and then added a careful "Guys." to his speech.

Claudia surveyed him carefully and then looked at HG on the screen of her Farnsworth and then at Steve again. Quickly, she pressed the communication device against her chest, trying to muffle the sound of her words as she adressed Jinks.

"Are you suggesting we should send Helena and Myka on artifact hunt together, searching for something that unleashes strong emotions while they sleep in the same hotel in New York?" She quickly whispered.

"That's what I'm sayi-" Steve froze, looking like he suddenly had some sort of revelation. "Wait, a hotel in New York?"

"This is the best idea of setting them up with each other ever, Jinksy. You're a genius!" The caretaker exclaimed happily.

"Setting them up with each other? In a hotel in New York?" Her former partner asked emphatically.

"Yes? Is there a problem?" Claudia tilted her head questioningly.

He blinked for a few seconds, his eyes darting to the upper left like he was listening to himself. Then, he shrugged. "No." Steve said in an innocent tone of voice. "I just realized what this means... but... oh wow!"

"HG?" Claudia again looked at Helena on her Farnsworth. "You're going to New York with Myka looking for that artifact that has affected Pete! You're taking Myka with you instead of Steve because... Myka's eidetic memory can probably tell you what the Pete monster has touched over there."

"Claudia!" The Victorian huffed. "I've already told you I can't do that. I've Adelaide with me in the Inn and I want to-"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Abigail will babysit her." The redhead tried to hide the grin that made an attempt to appear on her face. "I'm pretty sure she will. I can call her for you."

"Claudia!" HG's eyes widened and suddenly, there it was: the death glare.

Claudia put on her best Mrs. Frederic face and showed her the raised eyebrow. "No backtalk, Agent Wells. You're still restricted and I'm your boss."


	9. Chapter 9

Walking through the narrow aisle in the middle of the plane, Myka followed HG to their seats. The Victorian flung herself into hers, crossing her arms, and then blew her hair out of her face. The younger agent gave her an understanding smile while stuffing her bag into the locker above their heads.

"I'm sorry." Myka mumbled sheepishly, realized she had left their files in the bag and opened the locker again to get them out. The American was responsible for all the things needed for the artifact hunt since HG was still under restriction. So Myka carried the teslas, the gun, the neutralisation bags, the Farnsworths, and even the files.

"That's the first time I've hated this job since I came back." Helena stated, sounding resentful.

In reaction, Myka chewed on her lower lip and took her seat next to the Victorian, handing her a file. "'Hate' is such a strong word." She slowly replied while pondering over a way to deal with the other woman's words. After a few moments of deeper thought, the American considered that Helena might hate the fact that she had to work while Adelaide had come over to be with her. That didn't have to mean that HG hated the work at all, or the Warehouse, or coming back to it.

Helena had chosen to come back. Sometimes, Myka had to tell herself this repeatedly so she would start believing it. Helena had chosen to come back. No one had forced her into it or begged her on their knees. Even though that last part might have come to the younger woman's mind as a real possibility during her desperate episodes while they had their coffee meetings before Helena had come back.

But no, in fact it had been Claudia who had been the catalyst for HG's decision. _Decision._ It had been the writer's _choice_ to come back to the Warehouse. Which meant that she wouldn't leave so easily again. Or at all.

_Helena wouldn't leave again._ Myka internally told herself that while opening her file and pretending that she hadn't just had an entire internal pep talk for herself in reaction to one sentence from HG. _She has come back to the Warehouse because it's her home. And even though she will struggle, she won't run away from it._

There was a part of Myka which was still mad at Helena for leaving in the first place. Not for needing time to recover, to heal. She had understood the Victorian's need to be in Boone. To play house, to pretend that everything was alright, even though it wasn't. That part of Myka was mad at HG for leaving without telling her. For not trusting her enough to tell her she needed time. It was also the part of Myka that had hurt so much back in Boone when HG had opened the door to introduce Adelaide and Nate to her.

It had also been that same part of her that had told Helena she had been lying to herself back then. She'd said that HG had been lying to herself by living in Boone and normality was not suitable for HG Wells, even though she had known that these words would hurt the other woman.

The rational and loving parts of the American's mind weren't happy with this overly emotional, hurt and angry Myka. But she would have to to deal with it and she hoped that things might sort themselves out in a way that might allow her to forget that part of her; to instead focus on love and rationality.

"Then maybe I should say 'dislike'." HG replied, still in an disgruntled tone of voice. Myka's eyes darted towards her. "Huh?"

"You told me 'hate' was a rather strong word for being mad at Claudia for sending me on artifact hunt while I have Adelaide over." Helena narrowed her eyes ever so slightly while surveying Myka thorougly.

"Oh, right." The younger agent nodded profusely. "I said that. That's right... Well, I'm sorry she did that."

"I don't understand why Steve couldn't have gone with you. Why did it have to be me?" Helena admitted and then opened the file Myka had handed her.

The American pursed her lips. No, she wouldn't overthink that sentence like she had done the other one.

"Uhm, Steve said he was feeling a cold coming on." The curly haired woman replied instead. In fact, Myka suspected there was a different reason Claudia had decided to send the two women on artifact hunt together. The caretaker knew about their problems since Myka had told her and it seemed that Claudia thought that it might be time for them to talk. They would have enough time on the trip and back for that. Still, Myka didn't know how to begin.

"He seemed to be feeling well enough to help Claudia brief us on the artifact." Helena rolled her eyes.

That was in fact true. While Myka and Helena had made it to the airport in Pierce by car, Claudia and Steve had prepared a short portfolio about potential artifacts and sent them to Myka's smartphone via email, so they wouldn't lose any time. The younger agent had printed out the files in the nearest copy shop. She kept asking herself when Claudia would start working digital with them instead of having analogue files.

"That's absolutely right. But maybe there's something different to it." The younger agent said that sentence without knowing how to explain it to Helena.

The Victorian looked at her, a little surprised. Then, her eyes darted briefly to Myka's lips and again up to her eyes. Myka swallowed thickly and looked shyly into the older woman's eyes. But then Helena decided to ruin this short moment they had.

"And... what do you mean by that?" She asked, looking down quickly at her file, browsing through the pages.

Myka watched HG toy with her locket, and ran her fingertips down her own neck. She couldn't handle the simple reality that Helena had decided to ignore the moment that had just passed between them. That she had just decided to avoid Myka again, even though the younger agent had made a step into her direction today. A small step, but a step. It had been quite easy to talk to Helena today while Adelaide had been there. Now it was just... disappointing and frustrating.

Myka leaned back in her chair and fastened her seatbelt while staring at the plane's ceiling, clenching her jaw.

"Nothing in particular." She lied

________________________________________________

Sarah rested her forehead on her forearms on Artie's desk in the Warehouse. No, that was wrong. Sarah rested her forehead on Steve's forearms. This was entirely different and far more complicated than being Claudia as she had expected. Sure, the young woman knew a lot about Steve, but pretending to be him? That was another thing entirely. For now, she had the feeling that she'd managed it quite well so far. In the short time since winding up in this body she had already fought Pete (who lay snoring on one of the couches in the office), and had spent two hours doing artifact research with Claudia for the benefit of her own mothers. Whom she had set up with each other, apparently. It was her who had sent the two women to New York together, where they - as Sarah knew - would finally admit their love to each other. The thought of having set up her own parents with each other was something Sarah needed to get used to. Because that was some life-shattering revelation.

And of course she hadn't had any time to do research on her own artifact problem yet: the emotion element stone she needed to free her parents from being frozen in stone in the future. Claudia had spent the last half hour after HG and Myka had taken off with the plane asking the girl that inhabited Steve's body very strange questions. And due to Paul's voice in her head, Sarah had been able to answer them all without rousing the caretaker's suspicion. Hopefully.

_Don't you think you should start with the artifact research?_ Paul suddenly asked inside her head. This was still one of the strangest experiences Sarah had ever had in her life: her brother being inside of her own mind. "Shut up." The girl whispered as quietly as she could. "I have to adjust myself. I'm Steve, Paul. I'm Steve."

_Well, it's not my fault, Ferret. Claudia set up the destination of your time travel. The file was encrypted._ She could almost hear him pout.

Claudia appeared from the kitchen back in the office, holding a mug. The time traveller inhaled deeply and sighed in reaction to the scent.

"Is that coffee?" She asked eagerly and rose from her chair to head for the kitchen. Sarah was struggling hard with her coffee addiction at the moment. She was down to four mugs a day, and sometimes, she-

_Wait! Wait! Wait!_ The girl heard again her brother in her mind. _Steve doesn't drink coffee. He has never done that, he likes chai tea. Claudia probably knows!_

Sarah instantly froze, her hand mid-reach to the coffee machine. "You gotta be kidding me." She whispered, loud enough that Paul would hear her, but not Claudia.

Who cleared her throat right behind her. Slowly, Sarah turned around, meeting the other woman's gaze, her one upraised eyebrow, that slight smirk on her face while the caretaker softly blew over her beverage.

"Coffee?" The redhead asked, sounding faux-innocent.

"Toilet." Sarah replied, almost automatically, and passed her quickly to head for the mentioned room. Hastily, the girl closed and locked the door behind herself and stared for a few seconds into the mirror over the sink. Steve's face.

_Well, ferret, we both know Claudia knows you were with her that day. I don't know why you're trying to make such a mystery out of it. She's cleary already suspecting something._ Paul commented dryly on his sister's behaviour.

"Shut up." Sarah hissed at Steve's reflection, meaning Paul. "You don't know what telling people about your time travel could cause."

_Do I have to remind you again that this form of time travel is a very different one from yours? You cannot change anything. Oh, come on, Sarah! Do we have to have this conversation again?_

"Paul-" Sarah began but then shrieked loudly as Claudia appeared out of nowhere right to Sarah's left side.

"Claudia!" The girl yelled at the caretaker. "You do know what one normally does inside a restroom? I could have been without my trousers here!"

"Yeah, nothing I would really be interested in." The redhead told Steve's reflection. "Also: trousers? Since when are you so British?"

Then, she raised her right arm, holding a loading tesla. Sarah eyed the weapon warily.

"I'm just gonna stop pretending I don't see that there's something wrong." Claudia said with a bright but also irate grin. "And then we're going to sit down and you're going to tell me what the frakking hell is going on."

_There we go._ Paul sighed deeply in Sarah's head. _She's pointing a gun at you, isn't she?_

"Claudia, I am perfectly fine." The time traveller replied and tried to look casual while she glared into the Tesla's muzzle.

"Shut up." Claudia growled at her, her eyebrows furrowing. "Who the heck are you? And who is Paul?"

"You really don't want to point a weapon at me." The other woman replied and tried to concentrate with a gun held to her head. She had always hated this. Family history.

_Of course she is. Sarah: calm!_ Her brother's voice sounded a little more worried now.

"Aha, so are we getting closer to finding out who you are now? Apparently, you don't like guns held against you?" Claudia concluded and inched closer. Sarah bit her lip as she watched the Tesla inch closer to the tip of her nose.

_Just talk her into lowering her weapon. You don't need to kenpo it out of her hand, kettle kid._

"That's very true. I would appreciate it if we could talk without the weapon between us." The time traveller looked deeply into Claudia's eyes.

"Well, I don't know if I can trust you since you still haven't introduced yourself." The caretaker replied, her voice still filled with anger.

"I promise I mean you no harm, Claudia. Don't you think if I wanted to hurt you or any of your friends I wouldn't have done it already?" Sarah forced herself into sounding friendly, even though Claudia still hadn't lowered her Tesla.

"Good argument, but still you have to admit that this could also be some sort of trick to get me into putting my Tesla away so you can attack me freely." The redhead narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"That's a conclusion I could easily have come to myself Claudia, nicely done." Sarah slightly bowed her head.

_What's this? Some sort of polite sass battle?_ The younger Bering-Wells child asked dryly.

"But you have to trust me when I say that none of that is my intention. To the contrary, Claud, I need your help." The writer pleaded carefully.

"My help?" Now the caretaker tilted her head. "Why?"

"Because I'm looking for an artifact and finding it would be easier if I have you helping me." Sarah replied.

Claudia blinked a few times in surprise. "You're looking for an artifact? Do you know what artifact it is?"

Sarah shook her head in confusion, slightly scrunching her nose. "Of course I do. But I'll need your help to find it. If you'd only put that Tesla down, Claud. You're my family, my teacher. You don't need to threaten me with a gun."

"Who are you?" Claudia now asked emphatically.

Sarah carefully cleared her throat. "My name is Sarah Bering-Wells." She said calmly and watched Claudia's eyebrows rise in surprise. "I'm currently sitting in my mother's time machine, searching for an artifact to help her. And for that, I need your help, Claudia."

The caretaker stared at the other woman's - Steve's - face for a few seconds. Then, ever so slowly, she lowered her Tesla. "Frakking hell." She mumbled, sounding utterly astonished.

_____________________________________________________

_Helena ran and ran. She couldn't remember why she had started running, but Myka was there, right behind her. The Victorian could almost feel the other woman's breath on her neck while quickly making her way through the impenetrable darkness that was her own dream. A darkness that creeped up her shoulders and her chest, strangling her. Helena struggled to breathe while running like her own life was in danger._

_But it wasn't hers. It had never been hers. She knew she would be too late again._

_Out of the blue, the scream of a child cut through this darkness and a few yards in front of them, self-illuminating figures appeared. It was Christina and her murderers, of course they were, it was always them._

_The child fell to the ground in slow motion, her eyes widened in fear, her mouth opened for another scream she wouldn't be able to voice anymore. Never again._

_Instead, Helena screamed for her, in anger, in fear, in desperation. And always, always in realisation and grief over her own daughter's death._

_She didn't know what she was screaming, all she knew was that she had now attracted the men's attention towards her and... towards Myka. Who had inched closer and gripped her hand, maybe to comfort her, Helena didn't know._

_The men were fast; they made it to the two women quickly. Helena braced herself, she had to fight them, to rescue Myka, like she hadn't been able to for her daughter back then in Paris._

_One of those men was holding a knife. HG had seen it a thousand times, when she had travelled into another woman's body with her time machine, trying to rescue Christina. And another thousand times in her dreams, after she had killed the murderers of her daughter with exactly this knife. Before that, she had tortured them for hours, snapping their bones step by step, starting with the delicate ones in their hands and feet._

_But the murderers of her daughter payed no mind to Helena, they never did. They easily passed her, Helena wasn't even able to touch them. Instead her attacking hands slid through those men's bodies, Exactly like they had done when she had been only a hologram stored on the Janus coin to keep others safe from her.  
Of course Myka fought her attackers, even in Helena's dreams the younger agent was this strong. But who could really fight those untouchable and of course dead men that were haunting Helena's dreams?_

_Just by a few hits from one of them, Myka went down to her knees and screamed from the top of her lungs. Meanwhile, Helena hadn't stopped trying to attack those men, she was fighting them, but without the tiniest glimpse of success._

_The knife cut through the darkness with a frightening glisten, but was stopped by another person. There she was again: the other intruder of Helena's dreams, the familiar face with the green eyes. Her raven black curls sent flying from the force of the motion, while she tackled the owner of the knife._

HG's eyes snapped open and met the grey plastic wall of the plane she was on. While she tried to calm down her own anxious breath, she tasted the salt of her own sweat on her lips. Another nightmare, she concluded, shaking heavily. There was this cold shiver on the back of her neck. For the tiniest part of a second, Helena had problems differentiating between her dream and reality, feeling the panic rise in her chest. She turned her head in her own seat and found Myka's face. The American was sleeping, her head had fallen into the Victorian's direction, close enough that her breath could cool the sweat that had formed on the writer's neck. Close enough that Helena could now feel it on her face as well.

Myka looked calm, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, but still blissful. Safe. There was nothing that could harm her right now, in her oblivious sleep. Except for Helena, maybe.

The Victorian caught herself staring at Myka and the beauty of her face. Which was so close to her own that HG could feel her body warmth.

Still breathing heavily, Helena forced herself to turn away and look out of the plane's window down to the passing landscape.


	10. Chapter 10

"You exist!" Claudia happily exclaimed and performed a little dance around the desk where Sarah sat. "You exist, for crying out loud. This is the best news since the announcement of Windows 7!"

In Sarah's mind, Paul snorted in reaction to Claudia's words. _Oh, I forgot you're back in the stone age, when Microsoft ruled them all._

"Right, and dinosaurs roamed the earth, yes Littlefoot?" The older child smirked but then froze as she saw Claudia's surprised look.

"No, I'm not having conversations with myself." She quickly told the caretaker.

"But?" The redhead's confusion was evident in her voice.

"Uff, this is hard to explain." The writer briefly chewed on her lower lip. "I have a brother, you already mentioned him: Paul."

"Aaah! The mysterious brother. He exists, too! Everything turns out to be as it should!" Claudia's smile only brightened. "Littlefoot?"

"Yeah." Sarah sighed. "Apatosaurus really have a long neck. And he's quite tall. Also: he rebuilt momma's time mach-"

"You're calling her 'momma'?" The caretaker squeaked. "That's so cute! Oh god, I want to meet Momma HG! Honestly. That's the cutest thing ever. What do you call Myka?"

_Tell her what you want._ Paul said. _She mentioned a memory loss, remember?_

"Ah, uhm... when I was younger: 'Mommy' and now just 'Mom', because we grew up and that sounds strange when you're twenty."

Claudia sat down and quickly took the girl's hands - or Steve's hands - in her own. "That's the cutest thing I've ever heard. Momma HG and Mommy Myka walking around with their daughter Sarah and baby Paul in the Warehouse. Pushing baby strollers... Oh god, that picture is just wrong. They can't push baby strollers..."

_I think she's gone crazy with this thought._ The time traveller heard her brother chuckle.

"So, yeah. That's fine and all. But maybe you want to come back to the time machine question? And my artifact, Claud?" Sarah tried.

"Have you been pushed around in baby strollers?" Claudia asked, her tone serious. Pete snored a little more loudly on the couch.

"Alright, you do know I'm here because I have to find an artifact and not to answer questions about how I was raised, right?" Sarah clapped her hands once and stood up to head for Claudia's computer.

"So... 'Littlefoot'." Claudia tried again this nickname. "I hope he's got a good comeback for that.'

Sarah snorted. "Yeah... Ferret."

The caretaker's eyebrows furrowed. "But why that?"

The girl blinked for a few seconds, then she shrugged. "It's a reference to the circumstances of my birth..." She whispered. "Anyway, Paul has added a device to the time machine that makes it possible for me to hear him in my head. Which is slightly-"

"He did what? How did he do that?" The caretaker rose from her chair, looking incredibly interested. "I've thought about something like that myself. If you added... hmm..." Suddenly, Claudia looked to be deep in thought.

_Sarah, tell her that I have added a simple system of-_

"Okay, I know you're both techies, but there is no time for that. We have to find the artifact to save the family and you're not helping by starting with your techno babble right now." Quickly, the girl opened the ping research program on the Warehouse computer. "There has to be some sort of ping or something. Otherwise I wouldn't understand why I was sent to this exact particular time."

"So one could say Paul is the tech nerd?" The redhead slowly walked over to Sarah to position herself behind her and look over the time traveller's shoulder - or around it, since Steve was taller than Claud. "And you're not? How did HG handle that disappointment?"

Sighing deeply, Sarah replied: "I'm the writer."

"A writer?" Claudia's eyebrows darted up in surprise. "Well, she'll like that."

"She does, even though I don't let her add science fiction to my novels." The time traveller explained while typing into the keyboard.

"Means you're writing what?" The caretaker went into the topic interestedly.

"Fantasy crime novels." Sarah mumbled while concentrating on the screen.

"Successful?" Claudia asked quickly.

The other woman looked at her though Steve's eyes. "Well, I'm not H.G. Wells. But I have my fans."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________-

Steve and Claudia had managed to get Myka and Helena rooms in the exact same hotel Pete and his partner had been in before. HG decided that this was a good outcome, because then, maybe, they could find the artifact faster. This would mean they could get home earlier and maybe, after two transcontinental flights, Helena would have enough time left to enjoy with Adelaide. She was currently internally scheduling her sleep, while Myka talked to the woman behind the counter in the hotel's lobby. The younger agent was busy with the late-evening check-in and casually asked about surprisingly aggressive guests in the hotel. The receptionist admitted that there had been a lot of rude people in the last few days, more than usual. And that once, they had had to call the police to get rid off an aggressive man who had beat up this one secret service agent.

Myka and Helena exchanged a knowing look. Then, Myka signed a few forms for the check-in. The receptionist smiled softly at her, then at Helena.

"So, two rooms?" She asked, skepticism evident in her voice. The Victorian's eyes widened for a second, then she bowed her head quickly. "Yes."

Meanwhile, Myka had frozen a little, looking at everything but her partner on duty and then nodded profusely. "Right." She said, with her voice slightly higher than usual.

"Oookay." Helena disliked the way that woman behind the counter overstreched the vowels in her exclamation.

"So, here are your keycards." The young woman's tone had returned to business. "It's on the third floor, right next to each other." She smirked at Myka and then pointed at a clipboard on the reception. "That's a petition which will go to the mayor. We're collecting signatures for the children's hospital on the other side of the street, which needs a new addition to its building. If you and your _partner on duty_ " The receptionist read those words from the form Myka just had handed to her, "would like to sign it, Miss Bering?" The receptionist also took the ballpoint pen from the younger Warehouse agent, who had slightly blushed and was now rubbing the back of her neck. Helena could see that and it caused her to worry again. She had no mind for those kind of thoughts right now. She still wasn't sure how to handle the fact that Myka had seen a child in her future. Their future? HG didn't know. She had listened to Abigail's words during their therapy session, but listening and understanding those words was something different from knowing how to handle them. Getting the Victorian to trust herself again with the help of Myka. But wouldn't allowing herself to slip back into Myka's life also mean danger for the younger woman? And of course for that chi-

No. Helena didn't want to think about this. Especially not right now.

So she decided to take her keycard and began to walk towards the elevator, while she caught Myka from the corner of her eye, taking the pen on the clipboard and signing the petition.

"Helena!" The Victorian froze in front of the elevator as the younger woman approached her from behind a few seconds later. "Yes?" HG asked, her voice trembling a bit. She quickly pressed the button of the elevator to keep herself busy from thinking about how strange the words partner on duty sounded if one overemphasised them.

"So it seems that the artifact may actually be in this hotel." Helena could feel Myka's gaze resting on her face while the American stood next to her, waiting for the elevator as well.

"It does?" HG asked, being a little at a loss. She briefly looked at the other woman from the corners of her eyes. Then, the elevator doors opened. While both women stepped inside, Myka asked:

"Yes, didn't you listen to the receptionist?"

Helena turned around next to her to watch the elevator doors close. Suddenly, she realized how small this elevator actually was and how close it brought Myka to her. Helena quickly inched away and tried to get space between the other woman and herself to be able to keep herself away from her.

"Indeed, I did listen to the receptionist." The Victorian replied, trying to recall what that woman actually had said, besides commenting salaciously on the nature of their relationship. "Aggressive guests in the hotel. But that could also be a mere coincidence, couldn't it? She also clearly only talked about Pete fighting with that one aggressive patron. Couldn't it be that this man has come into contact with the artifact outside of the hotel?"

Helena turned her head to look at Myka, who seemed to ponder her words. The American chewed on her lower lip with her eyebrows furrowed and - How long did an elevator need to get to the third floor? Helena had to get out of it quickly. Handling Myka so close was hard. The Victorian realized she had forgotten to press the button to actually get to the third floor. Someone else had called for the elevator in the fifth floor and they went up there instead. Awkwardly, Helena reached behind Myka's back to use the button for the third floor. Her view fell on the American's long neck. Her beautiful long neck...

The younger woman looked at her and then, HG caught her eye.

And that had been definitely a mistake, because now she could feel this unbearable pull inside her chest, could feel herself gravitating closer to Myka. Which actually wasn't quite possible anymore since they were already so close due to the size of this bloody elevator.

The elevator doors opened and HG quickly looked up to find someone joining them. Fine. Now they were three people pressed closely to each other, while making their way down to the third floor. Helena pinned her gaze to the man's back instead of Myka while waiting.

When they finally reached their destination, the doors opened and the man who had joined them gave them some space to let them leave the elevator.

Still deeply in her mind, thinking about the way Myka had chewed on her lips, and what her neck looked like, Helena headed down the hall. She was checking hastily on the numbers on the doors.

"Helena, where are you going?" The younger agent asked behind her. The writer froze at those words because Myka suddenly sounded so different than before: Angry, hurt and... well, mostly angry. Why was the American doing this now? Helena had tried so hard...

"I'm heading for my room." The Victorian replied calmly, not turning around.

"Of course." The younger agent's words sounded so full of bitterness that HG felt forced to slowly spin on her heels. "Myka?" She looked at the other woman questioningly, finding her clenching her jaw and glaring at her with her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. No." Myka huffed. "That's exactly what you're doing, right? Not admitting that there just was something... _something_. Oh, well, no. Wait. You know that there just was something. But you decided to ignore it. To leave that situation, like you always do."

HG stood there, thunderstruck, staring at the other woman, who now turned to the door of her own room. "It's not like I'm not making steps towards you, right? It's not that I've been waiting for almost nine damn months now only for you to decide that you cannot bear coming anywhere close to me. And that I... that I cannot do more..."

Under Helena's disbelieving eyes, the American quickly ripped the key card out of the pocket of her coat and pressed into the device on the door. Three quick strides, and Myka was gone, closing the door with a loud bang behind herself.

Hesitantly, HG walked to the door. She didn't understand what had just happened. Myka's behaviour had changed in mere seconds. Reaching out her hand to knock, she froze, realising that the other woman had just gotten angry because Helena had tried to avoid her again.


	11. Chapter 11

Artie's office had changed over the last couple of hours. Sarah had given Claudia a summary of the situation, although with Paul's help: Warehouse family frozen in stone; emotion element stones; Fear and Grief already in the Warehouse; Wrath would be found by Myka and HG sometime soon in New York. Together, the caretaker and the time traveller had spread files over the desk, had pored over maps and reports by Warehouse agents who had snagged those stones that were in the Warehouse already. And they hadn't found anything like a ping or actual evidence for the Euphoria stone's existence.

Sarah was drawing a picture of the Wrath stone on the blackboard in the office. There were sketches of the Fear and the Grief stone already, with short bullet point descriptions.

_'Wrath.'_ Paul read out loud in Sarah's head. His sister knew he had opened the digital file on his computer. _'Gem, colour: black. Contact unleashes only a small amount of actual anger until victim gets triggered by an irate emotion.' Oh, and here starts momma's report about mom's behaviour when she was under its influence. I hope they left out that part about them... oh thank goodness._

Sarah scrunched her nose, because she exactly knew what he meant. Quickly, she wrote the location down next to her notes: New York.

"Oh wait!" Claudia had watched the girl's actions from behind her. "Where have the other stones been found?"

Sarah looked to the upper left. "Paul?" She asked like it was his turn to find that out.

_Give me a few seconds._

The writer turned around to Claudia. "He's working on it."

The caretaker nodded profusely and then surveyed the girl in Steve's body. "So, I'm not that good with the body language as Myka is, but you're doing her lip-chewing and HG's hair-reaching."

"Sometimes I also do Pete's celebratory jig." The time traveller turned to the board again and surveyed the empty space under the head line 'Euphoria'.

_So!_ Paul seemed to be ready with his research. _Fear was found in London by the agents Jack Secord and Rebecca St. Clair... former-_

"Ah, I remember them." Sarah murmured and wrote down the information on the black board, so Claudia could get it, too.

"It's always them when we have this weird over-time research, right?" The caretaker shrugged.

_The Grief stone was found by their replacements a few years later in Berlin, Germany._ Paul stated in his monotonous artifact research tone of voice.

When Sarah wrote the name of the city on the board, Claudia froze and stared at it. Questioningly, the writer looked at her. "So, are we having a revelation, a vibe or comparable? Because you're now getting this look, Claudia, and actually, I know that look quite well."

The caretaker took a deep breath. "Oh, Mrs. Frederic, you sly fox." She whispered, more to herself than to Sarah.

The girl narrowed Steve's eyes at her, clearly at a loss. "What are we now talking about?"

_Don't you understand it? Claudia has told you that Mrs. Frederic gave her a puzzle to solve about artifacts and now... Claudia has some sort of relevation about the locations, right?_ Paul explained the redhead's behaviour to her.

"Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious, I understood that myself. The question I am asking is: What kind of revelation does Claudia have about the locations?"

"Don't you understand?" Claudia slightly jumped up and down in front of the blackboard. "Berlin, London! It's a puzzle." She quickly spun on her heels and rushed over to the world's map on the wall of the office.

"Oh, it's a puzzle?" The sarcasm in Sarah's voice was sharp as a blade. "I didn't get that, I'm sorry. Thank you for your help, Claud."

"She's still personified mystery. And can't say anything out loud. No, she has to set puzzles for me instead." Claudia mumbled while taking a red sharpie and drawing a circle around Berlin in Germany. "That's where we met the last time." The caretaker explained.

_Met?_ Paul asked, simply confused.

"Oh, when Claudia became caretaker, Mrs. F occassionally met her in different towns around the world to give her a puzzle or something." Sarah updated him.

"Before that, we met in London." Claudia started circling the capital city of the UK excessively with her sharpie. "And before that: New York."

"Ah, I understand." Sarah nodded profusely. "The cities are the puzzle. You met where the artifacts were found."

After drawing a circle around New York, Claudia moved over to the West. "Sioux Falls, dammit!" She exclaimed loudly. "I thought she just wanted to increase my Claudia-ing distance, starting in the biggest town which is nearest to the Warehouse and then moving to New York, London and Berlin. No, of course it's a frakking puzzle."

"Yeah, she did do such things." Sarah smiled softly at the caretaker.

"Did?" Claudia craned her neck to look at the other woman's face. "Does this mean she's dead thirty years into the future?"

The girl pursed Steve's lips in reaction. "No, she isn't dead. She's old. Oh god, is she old. She... she forgot a lot of things. But she's alive and not dead. Well, she isn't." Quickly, the time traveller reached her hand through Steve's short hair and then turned around to sit down on the couch next to the still deeply slumbering Pete.

"Wait, is Pete dead?" The redhead's eyes widened at the thought.

"What? Oh god, no!" Softly, Sarah patted Pete's lower leg. "He plans to outlive us all, which will be impossible since we all know that there's the caretaking thing and-" The time traveller paused and looked shyly up to Claudia.

_Oh, now that again._ Paul sighed. _I'm quickly off to the kitchen, making myself some food while you have your teacher and student moment, okay?_

"Caretaking thing?" The caretaker tilted her head questioningly.

"Ah, nothing important in particular. Let's just say you're not the only one with a great destiny." Softly, Sarah tugged at a loose thread on the couch.

"Aaaand you have problems accepting it?" Claudia quickly asked. "Because I know that feeling. Is this why you've become a writer instead of a Warehouse agent?"

The girl looked up at the redhead, her teacher, her aunt, her friend. "No." She replied carefully. "I've accepted this destiny - which ever it might be in particular - from day one. There was no alternative. We always knew there was more about it. I mean... I was made by the Warehouse. It has given me to my parents. And at first we thought it was something to grow them closer, or something. But then they found out more about my connection to it. This is something completely different." She tilted her head from the right to the left and then waved her hand around the room. "I consider the Warehouse my third parent. And it's okay. It has always made clear that this is important and not dangerous. So I grew up with this knowledge, even though I still don't know how far it actually reaches. The Warehouse is so interested in me, I believe there's more to it."

"Oh." Claudia replied. Just that, nothing more.

"I've become a writer, because I can write. That's my job. I'm good at it. Paul's the one who wants to become a Warehouse agent, even though he still struggles with talking to his parents about it."

"He's currently not listening, right?" The readhead grinned mischievously.

"Yeah, he isn't. The only thing that bugs me about this destiny and whatever is that I don't want to be alone, Claudia. You will be caretaker for a very long time. And in the end, I'm afraid people will leave before it's my turn." Sarah lowered her gaze to the ground, avoiding Claudia's. "Artie died three years ago."

The caretaker's sharp intake of breath made the girl's eyes snap upwards. "Of old age." She assured her. "He was well until the end. Everything is alright. But people get old."

"That's some spoiler I'd prefer not to have gotten." The other woman admitted, her eyes a little teary. "That's just... I don't know what to say."

Sara nodded. "I'm sorry. It's... it was hard for everyone. For you, of course. But for me, too. I've been barely home the last three years. It's not the same anymore, you know? And when I look at the Warehouse, I'm just afraid to see it fall apart... And... I've done awful things, Claudia. There is..." Sarah's voice broke, her lower lip quivered. Then she closed her eyes, swallowed and looked at the other woman. She had successfully fought her tears.

The caretaker looked sadly at her. "Are you alright? I'm kind of a little overwhelmed by you opening yourself so much to me. That's not anything like I know HG and Myka."

"Oh, I'm not them, Claud." The writer smiled weakly at her. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little bit used to you being my teacher and somebody I can talk to. I mean, I also have my parents, Paul and Adelaide to talk, but you're more-"

Claudia shook her head, interrupting Sarah. "Can you maybe... not spoil me? I would prefer to explore everything by myself. The Artie thing was already enough."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. But... actually, I don't think you'll remember this one." Sarah scrunched her nose.

"Huh?" The caretaker asked, taken a bit by surprise.

The time traveller narrowed her eyes at her. "Do you really think if you'd remember everything that happens today, you would have sent me into the past? I guess, Claudia, we will find that stone. But then we'll lose it. And something happens so you don't remember at all. And considering what my brother said, I think we cannot change anything about it. The important thing is that I remember where the artifact is so I can get it in the future."

Intensely rolling her eyes, Claudia raised her hands towards the ceiling. "Damn time travel shitfuckery."

Sarah snorted. "Welcome to a world of endless wonder, Claudia."

______________________________________________________________________________

HG slowly strolled through the darkened hotel lobby, looking around searchingly. She had pondered Myka's strange behaviour, her sudden aggressiveness for a while in her own hotel room. Due to the fact that the younger woman's room was right next to hers, Helena had been able to her the noises Myka had produced. This wasn't normal, she had concluded. HG hoped that the younger agent had come into contact with the artifact they've been searching for. That the noises of anger she had been hearing, the objects hitting the wall, were caused by the same artifact that had made Pete fight Claudia and Steve.

That the words she had spoken in the hotel's hall, weren't meant as they'd sounded.

Even though she could clearly understand the American's behaviour.

Yes, Helena had been avoiding Myka, and yes, this was not right. It was not fair. And it was not healthy for either of them. Especially because Abigail had flat-out told HG that she needed the woman she loved in her life so she would be able to heal. And now that Myka had said things - under the effect of an artifact - that Helena hadn't been glad to hear, the Victorian knew that they had to talk. They had to sort this out. But first, HG had to help her, to save her.

Having witnessed Myka this hurt had caused Helena's heart to ache painfully, like it was about to burst. She was sure she would hear more of this anytime soon. Talking to Myka woud be painful whatever she did, HG was sure. But Helena had to stop pretending that she could ever have gotten out of this without hurting both of them. Myka was more important than her own hurt feelings, Myka was good, she deserved to be handled carefully. She deserved that Helena swallowed down her cowardice and reached out a hand for her.

And so HG walked through the lobby, searching for the cause of Myka's outburst of emotions, hoping that there was one. She was sure that it must have happened here, because they had both been briefly distracted, trying to ignore the receptionist's comments. The writer quickly walked over to the reception counter, she flashed the person behind it her badge and demanded to get shown the forms and pens Myka had come into contact with while checking them into the hotel. It could be that Pete had come into contact with the artifact here as well. Perhaps he had made the paperwork, too.

With her hands gloved, Helena looked carefully at everything the receptionist showed her. She turned pens in her hands, read through forms, and then finally, her view fell on the clipboard that lay on the counter in a short distance to her. She sighed.

The petition for the mayor, Myka had signed it, HG hadn't. Quickly, Helena browsed through the pages and searched for a familiar handwriting. There it was: _Myka O. Bering_ and a few sheets of paper downwards: _Peter Lattimer._

Carefully, the agent slid her gloved fingertips over the clipboard, it was as ordinary as the pens and forms from the receptionist. But the pen on it looked special. It was a black one, old and engraved. HG wouldn't be surprised at all if the engravement would have said 'Artifact'. Of course it didn't; it was the name of the children's hospital on the other side of the street. Quickly, the Victorian turned the pen around and found a smaller black stone embedded in the shaft. If somebody would hold the pen sloppy, like if one was writing in a hurry or being Pete, then they could make skin contact with it easily.

Again, Helena sighed and then looked at the receptionist.

"I'm going to need to confiscate this." She told her in an official tone of voice. The other woman shrugged in reaction. It was clear she couldn't explain to herself what a secret service agent wanted with a pen, no matter how fancy it looked. But then she bowed her head.

HG held the pen clutched tightly in her hand as she turned around and headed for the elevator. She had to get to Myka, because the younger agent had stored the static bags inside her room, due to the fact that Helena still was a restricted agent. Those silly rules made the Victorian walk in anxious anticipation of what would await her behind Myka's hotel door. She hoped fervently that the woman she loved would let her inside


	12. Chapter 12

Claudia sat on the bonnet of Steve's Prius in front of the Warehouse. Sarah eyed her interestedly from the side, because currently, the big black raven from the Warehouse's roof was sitting on the caretaker's arm. The redhead and the animal were staring intensely at each other, like they were having a special moment. Then, the black bird opened its beak to screech and spread its wings. With the typical flapping noises, it raised itself into the air, leaving small black feathers to float down and settle upon the two young women. After a brief moment, the blueish-black feathers slowly disappeared, falling apart into dust.

The time traveller blinked Steve's eyes a few times, then she looked at Claudia.

"And that was...?" She carefully asked, feeling slightly confused.

_What did she do, Sarah?_ Paul quickly asked. _I want to know if you had just some sort of revelation or comparable. Sarah Bells out of words is fantastic!_

The caretaker raised an eyebrow at her. "That was Munin. ...Wait, you don't know?"

"Nope. I know that there's some relationship between the caretaker and that raven sitting on the roof of the Warehouse. And sometimes, it seems to give me vibes or something, like I know there's something happening. But actually, I don't know what it means." The writer looked up to the roof, where the big black animal sat. "Munin." She whispered. "That's part of Norse Mythology. And his name means something like 'Memory', as far as I can remember?"

_Aha! The raven. So you do know there's a connection between the caretaker and the raven and you, Miss 'I have a great destiny but lie to my brother about it'?_ Sarah decided to ignore her brother on this.

"Yeah, actually," Claudia began and pointed at the bird on the Warehouse's roof. "That's Hugin. Munin is flying towards Sioux Falls."

"Hugin and Munin. Right. Norse Mythology." Sarah concluded. "Odin's ravens, telling him what's happening in the world. Personifications of his mind and thoughts."

_Aha! I knew Claudia had a way of knowing that I once tried to smuggle this one artifact out of the Warehouse._ Paul concluded.

The caretaker grinned. "And you still ask yourself what they have to do with the caretaker?"

"Are you implying...?" Sarah shot her a quick look in surprise.

"That there's a reason Mrs. Frederic always knew when something was up in the Warehouse? Yupp. They inform us of everything that happens around the Warehouse. That's why Mrs. F knew I messed up its electrics a few weeks ago. The raven told her." The caretaker looked up at the raven. "I was going to call them 'snitch' and 'spy' but Mrs. F has been strict about their names."

She jumped down from the bonnet and opened the car's front door. "Are you going to drive to Sioux Falls or should I? Pity that you can't 'claudia' because it would be a lot easier if you could. Sioux Falls and back in mere seconds."

_Oh my god! Drive yourself! Drive yourself! We both know what Claudia does to cars!_

Sarah opened the front passenger's door, trying to sit down. She promptly bonked her forehead against the doorframe. Steve was too tall for her taste.

The caretaker grinned at her, but Sarah sat down without a word, ducking her head more carefully now. Still pondering over the raven revelation, she asked. "Mrs. Frederic likes it mysterious, right?"

"Yeah." Claudia flung herself into her seat and started the Prius. "Of course she likes that. Still don't know where she got that information about the cities from. And I have to say that either I'm slowly turning into her or I'm starting to like being this mysterious as well. Seems to be the reason I haven't told you about the ravens in the future, right? It's somehow... awesome to know if my agents are doing things they don't want me to know. Even though I totally hate observing them. Like... Oh gosh, I really don't want to spy on them, but I like the thought of having a way of observation no one knows anything about, so there is always a way I can see if they are in danger no one can mess with. Don't tell Steve, he still has nightmares about those birds back then."

_I wasn't planning on doing anything special with that first print, Claudia._ Paul huffed. _You didn't need your raven spies for that!_

Sarah grinned for a second at the thought of what kind of first print her brother'd tried to smuggle out of the Warehouse. She really didn't want to know.

"How do they work?" She looked questioningly at the caretaker.

Claudia grinned, shrugging, while turning the car around. "They are artifacts. Like the ribbon. They are part of the Warehouse connection. Actually, and this is quite cool, they are Warehouse 13's upgrade."

"What?" The writer's voice showed that her confusion was growing.

"Yeah, that's... let's say every Warehouse had an upgrade? The first one had the caretaker itself as an upgrade, the connection between Warehouse and person. The second one got the teleporting. Yes, that's an artifact, I was surprised myself when I found out." Claudia clicked her tongue and winked. "Warehouse 12 was in London, you know? Do you know the London Tower Ravens?"

"No." Sarah nervously eyed the street. Claudia's driving style was terryfying. The redhead shot her a glare.

"You sure you're your mother's daughter?" She asked in an amused voice.

"Shut up!" Sarah rolled her eyes. "And: which one?"

_Oh, Claud. You should see her in reality. Sometimes I'm afraid she's going to ground me, when she does that eyebrow raise. Or the glare._ The time traveller struggled hard to keep herself from replying to Paul's exclamation. It was annyoing that Claudia couldn't hear him, but it was also good.

"Both actually. Well, yes... London Tower Ravens. Six Ravens living in the Tower of London. Many mystery, much legends. Wow. People talked a lot about them, even that the queen uses them to spy on her subjects. Which is bullshit, but actually... artifact, you know." The caretaker shrugged.

"Artifact." Sarah agreed.

_Artifact,_ Paul agreed as well.

"And yeah. HG snagged them for Warehouse 12, so I'm surprised you don't know about that. And they brought them here when they closed Warehouse 12. For the caretaker. So she can spy on the Warehouse and its surroundings." Claudia ended her speech with a proud tone of voice.

"And now you sent one of them to Sioux Falls so it can observe for you before we get there." Sarah concluded. It made sense, it actually made sense. But why hadn't Claudia known about the Medusa's stone in the future, then? Why had she gone into the Warehouse without being warned by them?

"Yeah, okay. There are HG's deduction skills. Good girl... in Steve's body. Yes, I did." The redhead winked again at the time traveller. "So, before I'm using the highway: You got everything? Tesla, Gun, Farnsworth? Been to the toilet? It's gonna be a four-hour trip and don't want to stop halfway and have to turn around because you forgot something, Missy."

"Claudia, I'm 25 years old." The writer said indignantly. "And yes, I've been to the toilet. And I really hope Steve has a good bladder because I don't want to do that again anytime soon." The girl's eyes widened at the thought.

"You left the gun, didn't you?" The caretaker assumed knowingly.

"I-"

_Of course she did. She's as allergic to them as she is to apples._ Paul said dryly.

"You did."

"I hate guns!" Sarah raised her hand to the car's roof in desperation.

"Okay, you are HG's daughter. Good thing I took it with me." Now Claudia reached to her own belt and pulled out the mentioned weapon. She handed it to Sarah, who again rolled her eyes dramatically. "Gotcha, girl! Now that we talked about that, can you please call Abigail and inform her that we're going to Sioux Falls and won't be back for a few hours? Maybe not until tomorrow?"

Sarah sighed and pulled out the Farnsworth.

"And who is going to help me picking up the beds which will be available in the shop tomorrow and carry them into the B&B?" The former therapist on the Farnsworth's screen asked a few seconds later, indignantly, when Sarah had updated her on the fact that Claudia and Steve were going on Artifact hunt.

"Uhm... Adelaide?" The time traveller shrugged and tried hard to manage Steve's well-intentioned facial expression.

"She's eleven years old, Steve. I mean she's really good at Scrabble, as she has just proven to me... but... Do you want me to make HG's almost step daughter carry king sized matresses? That's... Let's not even think about it." Abigail shook her head with her eyes widened.

"But it's an important artifact hunt, Abs." Claudia told the keeper of the inn, leaning over to the front passenger seat. "And Sar- Jinksy and I will be back soon. Probably before Myka and HG are back. And hey, could you maybe look after Pete tonight? He's still sleeping in Artie's office. Don't wake him, ...for your own safety."

Sarah gripped into the seat as she looked on the street, recognising how the car came dangerously close to the other roadway "Claud! Claud! Street!" She yelped.

"Ah, right." Quickly, the caretaker leaned back and focused on the highway again.

"Why are you even letting her drive, Steve? Well, then. I seem to have to call for the delivery service. I kind of thought you would both come with me tomorrow, picking up those beds. But since you couldn't wait one day with your artifact hunt, we'll have to spend money on that." Abigail shrugged. "I will inform Artie that he'll have to dock that money off both your wages."

"I sort of think that I'm your boss now, Abs." The caretaker grinned, but still focussed on the street.

"Well, then. Pete and Myka's wage. So you get punished by them hating you forever." The former therapist smiled mischievously and then closed her Farnsworth.

________________________________________________________

Helena knocked on Myka's hotel door firmly, then clutched her locket anxiously. She held the pen in her gloved right hand, hiding it behind her back. It was quiet in the younger agent's hotel room and for a long moment, HG was afraid that Myka would have done something to hurt herself in her rage. But then she heard the American move in her room, muffled footsteps coming closer to the door.

Quickly, the door flew open, Helena found herself facing Myka, whose facial expression was positively glacial. The younger agent glared at the Victorian, her gaze incredibly distant and angry. HG lowered hers to the tip of her shoes.

"I'm sorry to bother you." Helena spoke in the softest tone she could manage, afraid anything she would do could cause the other woman to burst out in emotions again. "But I think I might have found the artifact. Or at least part of it. And since you have the neutralisation bags, I'm asking for your permission to get access to your room." Slowly, Helena's gaze wandered up again, meeting Myka's face. The expression on it hadn't changed, instead, the American surveyed HG with her angry eyes and clenched her jaw. It was like Myka was holding back what she wanted to say. Even in this state, under the influence of an artifact, the curly haired woman still tried to hold herself back, to not hurt HG. Helena suddenly understood why Myka had retreated into her own room so quickly. The writer was in awe of the American's strength, and she was afraid, too. If she entered that room, it was certain that the younger woman would tell Helena about all the times she had hurt her, because she was sure that Myka would not be capable of holding herself back in her presence. Like she had always struggled, because Helena had always seen it. And denied it. The Victorian wasn't sure if she could handle hearing about the pain she had caused the other woman.

But still, she needed to get into that room, she needed to help Myka. It was important. And so she waited, head bowed, eyes cast downwards, blinking rapidly. Helena didn't need to hear any of the things she was afraid of hearing. The imagination of it was enough for her.

Then, Myka pulled the door open to step aside.

"Why would you _bother_ me?" She grumbled while Helena walked past her towards the desk on which she had spotted Myka's bag. Of course HG didn't miss the sting in the younger woman's voice, but she refused to react to it. She didn't want to add fuel to this fire that was already burning.

Without a word, HG crossed the room. She heard how Myka firmly threw the door shut behind them.

"You're not _bothering_ me at all, Helena." There it was: That way the American had said her name, incredibly cold, accompanied by a burning rage. Struggling for distance but still intimate, betraying that Myka was deeply hurt by her. "You're allowed to show up whenever you want. Show up and leave again. Like you always do." Her tone of voice now had changed to a hurt one; this was even more painful than the coldness and distance of her previous words.

"And I cannot do anything about it, Helena. I let you go. Or I try to take some steps towards you. It doesn't matter. You're doing your own thing, showing up and leaving, trying to avoid me. Deciding to come back but still _deciding_ to not come close to me."

Helena quickly bent over Myka's table to reach for her bag. She swallowed hard as she opened it with her shaking left hand to search for the static bags in it.

"In fact," Myka's voice again reached her ears. Helena pressed her gloved fingertips quickly to the bridge of her nose, trying to ignore the hurt sting in the other woman's voice. To only let those words reach her ears but never reach her heart, because Myka was under the influence of an artifact. She was not herself. Helena couldn't allow those words, ones that sounded like they were spoken from the most earnest place in Myka Bering, to get access to her own heart, which was still holding up poorly. Which was stitched together badly and glued but not quite set and definitely in no fit state to come into contact with Myka's words.

"In fact you do far more than _merely bother_ me, Helena. You hurt me. You hurt me so much by leaving, then showing up again, only to avoid me." Something hit the wall with a loud thud. Myka was about to demolish the room they were in.

HG finally managed to find the static bags and slowly pulled one of them out, while still listening to Myka's voice even though she knew she shouldn't. She shouldn't torture herself with this. Because she didn't deserve this. Helena was not a villain, doomed to punish herself for what she had done. For her own way of dealing with her poorly fixed heart. It had taken her long enough to even consider accepting this thought. But it didn't keep her from pausing her motions right now to listen to Myka.

"Letting other people into your life and letting them help you and love you. And the only thing I'm allowed to do is watch. Watch you love them back. Watch you hurt me. Watch you ruin that future I have apparently avoided myself - you avoid me now, and I don't know what to do about it. Because I'm stuck, Helena. Stuck standing here and watching you ruin everything even though I should know that there are always two people needed for ruining something like this. Because it's not your fault, it's mine. I am as much a coward about this as you are.", Myka sobbed and Helena had to fight the urge to turn around and comfort her. First she had to get rid of this artifact. How long could it take to open a bloody static bag? Well, if she actually maybe worked on that instead of listening to-

"We have ruined this future together, Helena. And for a reason I cannot even understand myself, I still hope that everything will work out fine. But it surely won't and so I stand here, looking at you and being mad at myself. Because I'm as cowardly as you are about this. You're hurting me because I let you hurt me. You're avoiding me because I allow you to avoid me." Myka's tone of voice was suppressed. She still seemed to be trying to not give in the feelings of wrath. "Because I am not brave enough to make a serious step in your direction. That thing this morning with Adelaide and Scrabble was not what I was supposed to do. I need to do more, because you can't. But I'm struggling. It's because I'm helpless and I cannot handle this. And that's why I'm mad at myself! It's because I love you, Helena, but I'm not strong enough to admit it to you."

Quickly, HG ripped the neutralisation bag open. She couldn't let Myka go on talking like this. It was... Had she just said love? The Victorian slowly shook her head while dropping the pen into the bag. She ducked and covered while the sparks emerged from it. She heard the younger agent gasp loudly behind her, then hit the ground with a soft 'whump'. Then, it was quiet.

Helena's hand opened automatically, dropping the bag. She leaned heavily on the desk. Helena struggled to support herself, even with her hands on the desk aiding her balance. Without that, she would surely lose all semblance of vertical stance and tumble as gracelessly to the floor as Myka had done, judging by the sound. Desperately, she stared at her hands, as though they could answer her question: what was she to do now? For all the Victorian knew, the woman she loved had just declared her love to her. While under the effect of an artifact that had caused her to say terrible things about both of them. That couldn't be right. That was...

Myka was breathing heavily behind her and didn't say a word. No words of apology or change of mind. No indication that she hadn't meant it. But no indication that she had meant it either. Carefully, HG shifted her weight back to her feet, so she could pull her gloves off.

Love declarations made under the influence of an artifact were mostly not intended by the people who made them.

It was okay. Helena could pretend it had never happened if Myka wanted her to. She was used to pretending. She could put a smile on her face and go into her own room.

Slowly, the Victorian turned around and found the younger woman sitting on the ground, leaning against the door. The way out was blocked by the woman Helena wanted to give a chance to make her walk away if that was what she wanted. Myka was staring at Helena with widened and shocked eyes, a hand covering her mouth. There were tears in the American's eyes. HG could see them. But she didn't allow herself to make actual eye contact with her. Instead she leaned her hips against the desk and crossed her arms. She prepared herself to say some words to help Myka to leave this situation without embarrassing herself.

So she stood there, waiting for the woman she loved to send her away again.


	13. Chapter 13

Myka could feel the wood of the hotel door pressing against her back. She held a hand pressed over her mouth, with a thousand thoughts racing through her mind. The American couldn't begin to order them. She had said terrible things to Helena under the influence of this artifact; this realisation had hit her immediately, as soon as the pen was neutralised.

And she had said something she had always wanted to say - to scream from the top of her lungs so the other woman would finally hear it, but Myka had always refused to express it.

Myka could tell by the way HG tentatively leaned against the desk that the Victorian was unsure what to do. Helena's eyes had darted towards the door, apparently surprised to find the American blocking it. And now it seemed like the writer was preparing herself for the younger agent to take back what she had said, or at least that part of it.

But that wasn't what Myka wanted, was it?

The curly-haired woman felt curiously liberated. She had finally admitted it and somehow, even though it hadn't quite been her own choice to say these words, she felt like all her pent-up tension had fallen away. By the same token, HG seemed to have built up more of this tension. She was struggling, Myka could see that. Helena was ready to run away again, but this time, Myka wouldn't let her go. Never again.

Slowly, the younger agent's gaze wandered up Helena's body. She loved this woman so much, and by now, she was sure it was better for HG to not only know it but also to have heard it from Myka herself. Both women had known that they loved each other before this, but neither of them had been able to say it.

Myka was glad she had said it, didn't regret it in the slightest. What she did regret were all those other words she had spat at Helena in her artifact-induced rage. The American had fought so hard to hold them back, but failed spectacularly. And now the woman she loved stood there still, staring at her but avoiding her eyes, anticipating Myka talking herself out of this situation.

The younger woman looked into the Victorian's face for a few seconds, waiting. She waited because she needed to meet Helena's eyes. She needed to see them. They had been avoiding to look into each other's eyes for too long. There was this glisten in them, the dark brown of her irises - Myka had found what she had been looking for and before the younger woman became fully aware of it, she was up on her feet, making her way through the room towards Helena.

Quickly, she reached out a hand, finding that Helena had stepped towards her as well. Their bodies met with force. Myka was the stronger one, pushing HG back against the desk, while wrapping her hands desperately around the older woman's shoulders. They crashed into the rickety piece of furniture, making their belongings on it rattle. The American felt Helena's shaky hands grasp onto the fabric of her shirt somewhere below her ribs. Her forehead rested against Myka's cheek and it felt so, so wonderful. But Helena was struggling. She was still struggling. And Myka didn't want Helena to struggle anymore.

So she allowed her hands to wander further up and cup the Victorian's cheeks to pull her face upwards. Their eyes met again, Helena's still filled with tears, almost making an attempt to dart away. But Myka smiled, she kept smiling as she pulled the other woman closer to kiss her.

To just kiss her.

At first, it was just a careful brush of skin against skin, as though Myka was asking a question, which Helena soon answered by pulling her closer and returning her kiss. Their lips parted, allowing their tongues to slip over them and join together. Myka couldn't help but try to claim HG completely with her mouth and hands. She carefully brushed her thumb over the soft skin of the other woman's cheek. She could feel how the grip of Helena's hands on the fabric of her shirt only tightened, could feel her pulling at it slightly, like she was trying to move the younger woman closer to her, even though it wasn't possible anymore. Even though they were so close that the younger woman could feel the writer's heart thumping against her own chest, almost as though it was inside it, next to her own heart. But even though Helena's grasp onto her shirt strengthened, Myka could feel her relax in her arms.

It was a kiss of release, of something that finally happened. And for Myka, it still tasted like a sweet memory. The sweet memory of an undone day in Boone, when she had kissed Helena for the first time. But this day had never happened, even though she could remember it. So kissing HG was still new to her. And this time it was real and not merely a memory in her head, however precious.

Helena's lips were so familiar and soft against Myka's, and full of need. The two women had waited so long for this. There were no thoughts of uncertain futures anymore, nor of the fear of ruining one. There was only Helena, pressed tightly against her.

So many questions still lay unanswered between them, but Myka did not care. She cared only about the soft touch of HG's tongue against her own. She cared only about the contact between their mouths, the access they granted to each other. Myka cared about her own hands roaming over the Victorian's neck, her fingertips brushing against the older woman's nape. The warmth of Helena's body pressed against her own, that was what the American cared about.

And she cared about the way the writer's hands now let go of her shirt to stroke Myka's hips and back, gently fondling her through the fabric of her clothes.

Myka cried while kissing Helena and she didn't try to hide it. She was relieved, so what did it matter? The tears just ran down her cheeks. It was this incredible feeling of all her insecurities lifting from her. For a fraction of a second Myka could feel them screaming inside herself: she had just had kissed HG out of nowhere and surely the American needed time to process this. But she shoved those anxieties aside. She knew that Helena wouldn't let her go anymore. She just knew. Right now, she could feel how the Victorian gently brushed the pad of her thumb over her cheek to wipe away the tears. Somehow, HG had noticed them without even opening her eyes and looking at Myka.

Hesitantly, Helena removed her lips from the younger woman's, only to whisper "I love you." The American smiled at the thought that HG still felt the need to clarify this. Because she felt that need as well. "Helena, I love you." Myka replied carefully, knowing that there wasn't anything to be afraid of for either of them. Helena was hers, no matter what had happened or would happen in the future. And Myka belonged to Helena. It was this simple.

"Together." The American breathed the word onto the Victorian's lips. "We are in this together. And that's all." HG's eyes snapped open, finding Myka's smiling but reddened ones. There was this brief moment during which the younger woman could see that the writer was fighting her insecurities again, was struggling with something about the curly haired woman's words. But Myka leaned forward again quickly to cover Helena's lips with her own. To kiss those insecurities away.

HG just returned the kiss and the American felt that this wasn't about words anymore. They had spoken too many words to each other without ever saying anything. And it had never been enough. Myka felt that mere words from Helena just weren't enough anymore. Not now. Words about an uncertain future could wait. They had time. And right here and now it was about them and their lips and bodies. The communication they had always forbidden themselves to have with one another. Now it was no longer forbidden.

This kiss was more passionate than the first one. The younger agent's hands wandered across HG's shoulders, down to her waist. Myka caressed the Victorian's hips and thighs through the fabric of her jeans. She felt Helena lifting herself onto the desk, wrapping her legs around the American. Then, her hands brushed over her back. HG returned Myka's kiss and caresses equally; she claimed Myka not only with her mouth but with her limbs, which gently embraced the other woman.

The touch of the older woman's hands on her back, through the fabric at first and eventually skin on skin caused Myka to stifle a moan. The American could feel the vibration of Helena's chuckle on her lips. "Don't." HG mumbled between two kisses. "Please let me hear that. Let me hear everything."

Again, warm fingertips stroked the small of Myka's back. The American moaned into Helena's mouth, her own fingernails digging slightly into the fabric sheathing HG's thighs. Then, Myka reached up to unbutton the Victorian's blouse with trembling fingers.

This was the point at which Helena broke the kiss to look up into the American's eyes. Myka didn't know what the writer was looking for in their depths, but suddenly Helena jumped down from the desk to push the younger woman gently and slowly across the room. While making weak steps backwards, Myka could feel the Victorian's body pressing against her own, guiding her into the direction of the bed. Helena's hands reached for her own chest, supporting Myka's ongoing attempt to open her blouse. When the backs of the younger woman's legs made contact with the edge of the bed, the writer easily slipped out of her top and then looked back up into Myka's eyes. Carefully, the younger agent reached out a hand to caress the other woman's chest, beginning with her collarbones, then slowly following the line of HG's necklace downwards. It led her lower to the soft flesh of the swell of her breasts reaching over the edge of her bra.

HG watched Myka for a brief moment, before inching closer and brushing the younger woman's wild curls away from her neck. After running her fingertips over the younger woman's lips slowly, Helena trailed them down Myka's chin, along her neck until they rested at the nape. She let her hand linger there for a few seconds, then she carefully rubbed the spot, while meeting the American's gaze again. HG smiled as Myka's eyes widened in comprehension of the gesture, before she leaned forward to cover the skin she had traced with her fingers with open-mouthed kisses. She caused Myka to arch her long neck further, her eyes sliding shut all by themselves. This felt incredible; warm and soft and so delightfully intimate. Helena's breath on her skin, the gentle touch of her lips, Myka wanted her to never stop again.

After gently divesting the younger woman of her shirt, HG's eyes darted to the scar on the younger woman's right shoulder for a brief second. Myka could see this. She didn't want to think about it now. Her mouth opened - but then, the Victorian looked into her eyes again and gently pressed her hands against Myka's shoulders - avoiding to touch the scar - to guide her down to the bed.

Myka just let herself drop onto it, then propped herself up on her elbows to watch Helena stand there and give her a careful look. There were no tears in their eyes anymore, only love and desire. The younger woman's eyes roamed across Helena's body again, this time accompanied by the heat that coursed through her own. Myka could see that the writer was nervous, maybe as nervous as her. The American still struggled with processing what was happening right here and now, but she wanted to show HG that there was no reason to be nervous for her, even though she was plenty nervous herself. Quickly, Myka sat up, her feet meeting the floor. She reached out her hand to pull the Victorian closer, covering her naked stomach with passionate kisses, carefully tugging flesh between her teeth. Helena's hands entangled themselves in the younger woman's hair, scraping across her scalp when Myka's fingertips found the writer's waistband.

Looking up at HG's face while her cheek rested against the older woman's stomach, the American searched her eyes again. She watched Helena's facial expression become more confident and also aroused as Myka carefully popped the button of her trousers. Without breaking eye contact, she tugged down the zipper. Helena licked her lips in reaction, reaching down to help the younger woman remove this piece of clothing, as well her shoes and socks. Quickly, they tossed them aside, before HG leaned over to tenderly kiss Myka again, reaching around her back to unclasp the curly haired woman's bra. It joined their shirts and Helena's trousers on the floor, while the writer again pushed her lover down on the bed, joining her there on all her four. She covered Myka's mouth with her own once more.

The American could feel Helena's leg parting both of hers to press gently against the seat of her womanhood. Myka groaned loudly, and HG broke their kiss for a moment to look at her. Myka opened her eyes, finding the other woman interested in the noise. She reached her hand up to pull her closer again and linked their mouths for another kiss. Slowly, gently, lovingly, Helena's hand stroke repeatedly over the curly haired woman's breasts. When she cupped one of them, Myka's back arched and her fingers clutched tightly onto the bed sheet. She moaned loudly, to let Helena know she liked this. But she wanted to touch her lover, too. She needed to. So she reached her hand upwards, brushing carefully across Helena's cleavage until she found the edge of the older woman's bra again. Gently, she shoved the fabric upwards, her hand enjoying the sensation of palming the soft flesh of HG's breasts.

Helena smiled into the kiss. She quickly unclasped her own bra and slipped out of it, apparently to give Myka better access. The younger woman looked at Helena's body on top of her own: Their heaving chests, skin against skin, freckles touching each other. The writer's hands roamed over her sides and in reaction, Myka linked their lips for another time, her tongue needily seeking Helena's.

Almost painfully slowly, the older woman's mouth explored downwards, leaving soft, warm kisses on her breasts, chest, stomach. She carefully peeled Myka out of her jeans and underpants, getting rid of them along with her socks.

And then the younger woman felt Helena's hot breath and skilled tongue between her legs. She gasped, lifting her hips upwards, desperate for this feeling, her hands clinging needily onto HG's hair.

Myka's need to have the other woman right there battled with her other need to pull her up and see her, to feel her pressed completely against her own body. This was good, but it was not enough, even though the American's pleasure quickly built up, even though she was about to melt into this touch. So she bit down on her own lip, shaking her head while guiding Helena upwards again. The Victorian looked questioningly at her, but Myka covered her lips with her own quickly, tasting herself. There was another flush of heat, now almost everywhere in her body, while Myka tugged helplessly on the other woman's waistband. Smirking knowingly, the writer positioned herself right next to the other woman, aiding her attempts to pull off her underpants. They looked at eachother again, while the American's hands briefly brushed across the inside of Helena's thighs, hesitantly and shaking. Myka knew she was new at this, had never done it before, but she wanted...

The Victorian just smiled and then covered the younger woman's hand with her own, gently guiding her where she wanted her hand to be. "It's not very different from-" She began, but then was interrupted by her own moan in reaction to Myka's first tender thrust, Helena's eyes widening on the sudden but gentle contact. The American just watched her for this moment, when Helena rocked her hips into her hand, while the Victorian's eyes closed and she slightly arched her neck. Moaning quietly for a second time, HG pulled Myka closer and clung to her. The younger woman felt her own hand pressing into the older woman's body with every thrust, Helena's thigh settling over Myka's. When their lips met again, HG breathed heavily into her mouth.

Eventually, the writer's hand found its way between the younger woman's legs. Myka groaned loudly in reaction to HG's tender strokes, but she didn't stop using her own hand to pleasure the other woman.

This was their dialogue of moans and kisses, of bodies rocking into each other, moving closer into each other's direction. Helena's and Myka's hands stroked and thrust, showing each other where and how they liked it best. Tongues and lips brushed over soft skin, causing existing inner walls to crumble away. Their names crossed each other's lips, on their own volition, unstoppable in their desire and pleasure. And finally, Myka's teeth bit down on Helena's shoulder. The younger woman froze completely, pressing her release into the Victorian's skin, a muffled scream escaping her throat.

In reaction to the delicious sound and slight pain the American had caused, Helena whispered Myka's name repeatedly. Her hips bucked into Myka's without purpose. She lost her rhythm - Myka could feel her shudder. HG's fingernails dug deeply into the younger woman's back like she was searching for something to hold onto to keep herself from bursting. But then, she did, groaning her own orgasm loudly into the echo of Myka's.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey!" Sarah nuzzled closer to Steve's arm and tried to ignore Claudia's voice. "Hey! Hey... uhm, Ferret?"

"No." The girl mumbled and tried to shift away in her seat. Now the caretaker poked her repeatedly in Steve's back. "I found it! I found the Raven! Let's go! Ah, goddammit, Sarah, wake up!"

The time traveller sighed and opened her - well, Steve's, really - eyes, turning to the car's door, finding Claudia. The redhead stood on the sidewalk, holding two paper cups full of steaming hot coffee in a cardboard holder and eyed the man in the front passenger seat. "You fell asleep in the last hour. I found Munin!"

Taking the coffee from Claudia, Sarah looked out of the car at a tall building. Munin, the raven sat on its roof and glared down at both of them. "You sure it's him?" The writer asked drowsily, sipping her coffee.

The women's drive had taken four hours to Sioux Falls as anticipated, but then Claudia had lost track of Munin. She had still been sure he was sending her messages to find the artifact. She had said she was seeing pictures inside her head. So they had spent the last two hours searching Munin in Sioux Falls, which hadn't been a pleasant experience, because on top of everything else it had been rush hour. The caretaker had cursed a lot while driving around the town and yelling at people. At some point, Sarah had fallen asleep. And there was this problem she had figured out now: Steve was tired. His body was tired. Claudia, who seemed to be able to derive enough energy from coffee, had mentioned that he had been doing overnight research with her. The time traveller could feel that he wasn't as good as her at thriving on coffee and catnaps.

Sarah really hoped that she could work with this tired body. She took another gulp of her coffee, feeling her tired limbs slowly waking up.

"Of course it's him. I mean, have you looked at him? Have you ever seen such a big raven in South Dakota? I mean..." Claudia spun on her heels, looking up at the bird. "Munin?!" She loudly asked and earned a caw from the animal.

Again, the caretaker looked at the girl. "See? It's him!" She stated in a proud tone of voice.

"And he found the artifact?" Sarah climbed out of the car, still not taking her eyes off the roof. She hit her forehead again getting out of the car, cursing loudly. This had to stop! It was far too tall in Steve's body.

"Actually, I don't know." Claudia replied. "At least he thinks this building is important, so hey, why not take a look inside and do some good old artifact investigation? I mean, we'll probably find it, right? Since you were sent to this particular time, am I right?"

"Paul?" Sarah asked loudly and heard the noise of rustling paper inside her head.

_Been reading._ Her brother quickly replied. _Everything's cool. You... did you find the raven?_

"Yeah, we have. Time?" His sister weakly demanded to know.

_Oh, you've been there for twelve hours now. That probably means our mothers just checked into their hotel in New York and you still have ten hours for the artifact, so maybe there isn't even a reason for a drop or something._ He sounded like he was deeply in thought.

"Ten hours. Then maybe round two if it's not enough." Sarah looked at Claudia, who simply nodded in reaction. They walked over to the building. Reading the signs on the bells, the caretaker sighed. "Couldn't we find a building with less people in it?" She asked, sounding annoyed.

"'Harris and Harris attorneys', 'McKenzie delivery service', 'Huston tailoring' and 'Koester dry cleaning'." Sarah read out loud. "So what are we going to take first?"

"Hm, hm, hm." Claudia made and then randomly used the attorneys' bell. "I'll stick with the lawyers. Because an artifact that gives you random euphoria? Sounds absolutely like something yuppies would use if not cocaine... Or chainsaws."

Sarah raised an eyebrow at her.

"American psycho? Oh come on, Sarah! I hope I'll raise you better than that!" The caretaker sounded horrified. Slightly calmer, she continued: "We have to catch you up on all the good stuff. I managed that, too. Pete helped me. I mean, I spent my life focussed on my brother. But when I was finished with that... Warehouse and pop culture."

There was another screech from Munin, who rose into the air again and then flew off into the sunset.

"See?" The caretaker asked and smiled. "He agrees with me. Hope they are still there, because it's getting late."

________________________________________________________________________

Myka lay in bed on her stomach, feeling a little drowsy. She could feel Helena's fingertips on her back, softly drawing lazy circles and writing words Myka couldn't figure out. They'd stayed like this for long minutes, enjoying the silence they could share with each other before they had to talk.

Now, the Victorian shifted, leaned forwards and covered the younger woman's back with gentle kisses, moving up to the back of her neck. Myka quietly moaned as she felt HG's soft lips and tongue tracing a path along the soft skin behind her ear.

"You have no idea how much I've been longing to do that." The writer whispered breathlessly into her ear. "And for how long."

The younger agent smiled sheepishly as she turned her head to face other woman properly. "I... kind of have an idea?" She quietly stated. "But I'm really glad you're doing that now. And you can do that as much as you want."

"That does sound like an invitation." Helena grinned mischievously and leaned forwards again to cover Myka's neck with more kisses, moving over to her cheek. Then, the curly haired woman turned around fully to wrap her arms around the writer's neck to pull her close. Their kiss was chaste, but full of love. After covering Myka's neck and collarbones with a few more pecks, Helena rested her head on her lover's chest and cuddled closer. She sighed deeply, sounding utterly moonstruck. Myka closed her eyes for a second, wetting her lips before she replied:

"London." Helena furrowed her eyebrows, confused.

"Pardon?"

"Well, considering your face back then, you've been longing to kiss my neck since London. Even though it might have been only attraction." The American's index finger roamed along HG's upper arm. "Eidetic memory with an eye for detail? You should have seen your face."

"Oh, god, you should have seen yours. I was utterly delighted by it." A small laugh escaped the writer's mouth. "And by you. Your strength..."

"Yeah, thinking about it now, I get that." Myka replied happily. "I just didn't really get it back then. And all those other touches after London. Hands stroking over hands..."

"Certain Americans always rubbing the back of their neck." There was this tone in Helena's voice that showed Myka that she was grinning.

"That you noticed that..." The curly haired woman sighed.

"I noticed a lot." The Victorian replied hesitantly. "But, well, it didn't change anything about what happened afterwards, did it?" The younger woman could hear the tremble in Helena's voice and this was when she moved. She propped herself up a little to cup the artificer's face, to flip them both over gently and look at her. To look at Helena with all her love.

"Don't." She whispered, pressing her lips on the Victorian's. Pulling back again, she spoke louder. "Don't start blaming yourself again. I said it once, I'm gonna say it again: you are not the bad one. And you don't need to punish yourself for what happened back then. Helena, I love you. And you love me and I think, now that we have confessed that, we can be this honest with each other." She gently traced the older woman's lips with her thumb, recognising how HG's eyes darted to a certain point in the room. Next to the desk, there was still the artifact. Myka knew what that twitch of Helena' eyebrows meant and she leaned forwards to cover her lips with her own again.

"Everything I have said under its influence was the anger in me," She breathed the words onto HG's lips, "revealed by that artifact. And yes, there was anger in me, maybe there still is. Look, you once told me I was the woman who knows you best. You struggle so hard with your loss. And I... I hoped you would let me help you with that. Finally, after everything that happened with Sykes in the Warehouse. I thought that was the time." The younger woman brushed a wild strand of hair off the Victorian's forehead. She could feel how Helena's hand clung to the sheet that was covering them. Myka smiled and reached down to take that hand in her own and cover its knuckles with her lips, one after the other, before she continued speaking. "That was where I was mad at you. Where I was hurt, because you decided to leave instead of trusting me. I felt hurt because you don't trust yourself enough to trust me, Helena. Running away from yourself meant also running away from me. That was Boone. Where I had to learn that you needed time for yourself, uncomplicated time to recover."

The writer nodded simply in reply, her eyes filled with tears which Myka wanted to kiss away.

"When you came back, I hoped that you felt better, because you finally allowed yourself to come back to the place you belong, to the family where you belong. But I felt betrayed of this hope realising that you were avoiding me. Because you still didn't trust yourself enough to trust me with this. And that was what the artifact made me say. I was mad at you because you trusted neither me nor yourself enough for your recovery. And I was mad at myself because I couldn't find a way to help you with that. Because I struggled with my inner demons myself."

Briefly, Myka's eyes darted away, then she looked back at Helena, smiling fondly and finally wiping away the tears on the older woman's cheeks.

"I just want to help you, Helena. You need to recover, that's a valid need. An utterly valid need. And I want to help you with that."

The Victorian reached up her hand and brushed it over the younger woman's cheek. Myka leaned her face into the touch, kissing her palm. "I love you, Myka Bering." Helena whispered. "You're far too good fo-" She stopped when Myka shook her head.

"No, Helena. I'm am not far too good for you. I am good for you, if you allow me to be. And you are good for me, because you are good. You are Helena Wells, the person I love. A good person, and I have always seen that you are. That's why I always trusted you. Even back in Yellow Stone." Helena's sharp intake of breath caused Myka to lean over and kiss her again, soothingly, protectively.

"I wish you'd let me help you trust yourself again. I wish you would allow yourself to be Helena Wells for me. And not Emily Lake or anyone else. Because I only love Helena Wells."

The Victorian's eyebrows darted up.

"Emily Lake died the moment Walter Sykes put that Janus Coin back in your hand." Myka stated in a serious tone of voice. She suddenly felt sad. "She was a good woman,... she was appreciated, but she was not you. I'm not interested in Emily Lake. I'm only interested in who you really are, in Helena Wells, in you. I want Helena Wells to be part of my life, and to not run away from herself by hiding behind a dead woman's name. And for that, I need Helena Wells to trust herself again. I need you to trust me when I say that you are a trustworthy person."

The older woman smiled bitterly. "I think that would be a long and rocky road."

"Which we will walk together, Helena." The younger woman's face showed a fond smile again. "Because that's what couples do. Solving problems together, supporting and loving each other."

"Couples?" HG looked surprised. She earned a snort from Myka.

"Bering and Wells? Being madly in love with each other and finally becoming a couple?" The curly haired woman grinned.

"And you told me I'm overusing that phrase." The Victorian raised her eyebrow indignantly.

"Oh, sometimes overused phrases are good and appreciated." She pecked a kiss on Helena's cheek. "And I think there are a lot of people who really wished to hear this particular sentence. For example, everyone in the Warehouse, including Pete, Claudia, Abigail, with her king sized beds. Oh, and of course Adelaide. Don't try to tell me she wasn't trying to set us up with that Scrabble game."

"Oh, Adelaide. I absolutely forgot about her." The writer placed a hand over her forehead.

"Well." Myka turned around to look at the neutralisation bag on the ground. "We have snagged the artifact, if you want to go home, we could-"

She felt how Helena pulled her down to whisper into her ear. "No, I don't want. And talking about Adelaide and her Scrabble strategy in particular: what do you think she'd tell me if I'd interrupt this moment right now with you to go home to play Scrabble with her?"

The younger woman's eyes widened, but she still smiled as the Victorian's lips brushed across her neck. "I don't know... she seems to have an interest in our relationship."

"She made me call you three months ago, after Nate and I... after we broke up." HG's lips wandered further down, nipping at Myka's pulse point.

"She did?" Myka asked breathlessly and ignored HG's mention of Nate on purpose. There was nothing about him she wanted to talk about.

"Oh well, let's put it this way: maybe I needed someone showing me a rocky road." The Victorian smiled against the younger woman's skin.

"What an intelligent girl." Myka chuckled loudly. "We should let her win the next round of Scrabble."

"So, you're okay with Adelaide?" Helena asked, sounding a little worried. "And our relationship. That she will still be a part of my life?"

The American froze for a moment, and then looked down at her lover, finding her eyes. She smiled and kissed her. "I'm okay with everyone you think you need to actually walk that road with me."

"Oh, thank you, Myka." Helena's face brightened as well. "I... I really..."

Myka leaned back on her pillow, pulling Helena close and holding her. "It's okay. If you need her, you need her. And she's an intelligent kid. We'll get along."

She gently stroked Helena's back. "So, what do you think about cuddling and sleeping? That's what couples do... I heard."

Suddenly, she felt the older woman's hand brush against the skin on the inside of her thigh. "Maybe later. There are far more interesting things couples do that I really wish to explore further with you."


	15. Chapter 15

"Cold!" Claudia huffed, her breath steaming in the air. "It's cold as hell. Early spring South Dakota sucks." They were sitting in Steve's Prius again, because of course the lawyers weren't in their office anymore that late. Neither was anyone else in any of the other shops. So the two women had decided to observe the building with a classic stake out, waiting until somebody opened them back up in the morning.

Sarah snorted. "Isn't there a caretaker update for that?"

"You mean like integrated heating? That would be awesome, but sadly, I have to freeze my butt off." The caretaker pulled her jacket closed more tightly around her neck. "Cold cold cold." There was something in the redhead's voice that grabbed the writer's attention.

"Also, it's boring." She stated knowingly.

_Preach it!_ Paul groaned, _I have actually picked up my college homework from the car._

"Yeah, yes, right. It's also boring." Claudia shivered, rubbing her gloved hands together.

"So, do you want to talk?" The time traveller asked innocently.

"Talk? Yeah, maybe." The redhead looked interestedly at the building. "About what do you want to talk?" She asked, her voice sounding like she was avoiding something.

"Well." Sarah smiled and took some of the french fries they had picked up from a diner around the corner. "What do you want to talk about?" She now chewed intensely.

"Oh, nothing in particular." Claudia rubbed her nose and carefully didn't look at Sarah.

"Maybe... you want to talk about the future?" The writer shrugged. "I think I could talk about this. Maybe you want to ask me some questions about how you get along with the caretaking in the future?"

"Yes!" Claudia suddenly looked directly at the other woman. "Yes, I want that."

"So, no spoilers unless it's about whether you gonna manage to fight your insecurities?" The time traveller grinned a little mischievously.

"Well, you kinda said I will probably lose my memory after this. So... is it really a spoiler if you spoil me about something and I can't remember the thing at all afterwards?" The caretaker shrugged, looking a little helpless.

"You will." Sarah stated without going into the time travel discussion.

"I will what?" Claudia looked questioningly at her, clearly confused by the writer's words.

"You will be able to manage your insecurities, Claudia. You will become a good caretaker. You... you are a good caretaker. Look at you babysitting your friends' future daughter on an artifact hunt. Even though I'm not a Warehouse agent and I'm not very good at this part of the job." Sarah slightly shook Steve's head. "I mean, I'm a writer and I was sort of forced into this. I'm no agent or detective."

_Nobody forced you into this, Sarah._ Paul sounded somewhat indignant.

"The circumstances, Paul. The circumstances. Also, our Claudia seemed to like the thought of me talking with her younger and more insecure self. Maybe she wanted to give me some advice by showing me that she was a little like me herself back then." The time traveller shrugged. "Yeah, I figured that out. You have grown a lot in the future."

"Sounds like something Mrs. Frederic would do." The redhead squinted at her.

"Sounds like something a caretaker would do, Claudia. Sounds like something you would do." Taking another bite from her fries. Sarah lowered her gaze. "I don't know if this was your plan. But I know you're a wise woman. And you are a good teacher." Sarah didn't think it was necessary to mention that she had also seen Claudia already nine months ago with the help of her time travel artifact and that back then, things had been different. And Claudia had been different, too. For Sarah, it had been five years since that incident, but for Claudia it had only been nine months, and wow, she was different.

Claudia's expression changed into a proud one, a relieved one. "Are you...?" She swallowed. "Are you like your mom about hugging? Because she really doesn't like it when you fall into her arms with no warning."

_Yes!_ Paul chuckled.

"Yes." Sarah replied, but shook her head and pointed at her forehead. Her eyes widened a little as he mouthed 'Paul' and then leaned over the middle console to wrap her arms around the caretaker's shoulders, pulling her into a gentle hug. She decided that this felt more awkward than particularly nice. Because Steve was still a lot taller than Sarah and Claudia, and she had the feeling that she engulfed the caretaker completely with his body.

"Oh-kay." The redhead groaned. "You will have to work on managing Steve's body because currently I can't breathe."

_You hugged her?_ Sarah's brother sounded surprised. Sarah pulled back from the other woman.

"Yeah, I think I shouldn't do that again before being in full control over Jinksy's limbs. That's just..." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Claud."

"No, problem. Who needs oxygen? Nobody!" Claudia quickly hit the car's roof with her hand. "Also: You call him 'Jinksy'? Yes! I'm so proud of you. I'm so frakking proud of you!"

Suddenly, the Farnsworth on the middle console next to the fries buzzed and Sarah picked it up without thinking.

"Artie!" She squealed, finding the old man's face on the screen. She had the feeling her heart was breaking and she was so happy to see him at the same time. Sarah couldn't do anything to prevent those tears forming in her eyes.

"Steve?" The agent replied, sounding a bit flustered about the younger agent's reaction.

Claudia reached over to rip the communication device out of the girl's hand. "Arthurio!" The caretaker exclaimed. "What a pleasure to see you!"

"Is the Warehouse on fire?" The agent asked warily. Sarah laughed through her tears.

"What?" Claudia asked, honestly surprised. "Of course not, Artie. Go enjoy your vacation. Is Dr. Calder alright?"

"Something's up!" Artie concluded. "Why are you and Steve in a car? Have you burned down the Warehouse and now you're on the run?"

The redhead pursed her lips and then suddenly looked at him, utterly serious. "No." She spoke. "No, the Warehouse is fine. This is only an artifact investigation, Arthur."

"Artifact investigation? Claudia, you're are caretaker and Steve has HG as a partner, why are you two-" Artie was interrupted by Claudia.

"Exactly, Artie, exactly." The caretaker took a deep, steadying breath. "I'm caretaker and I can assure you that everything is fine. Pete came in contact with an artifact in New York and is basically out of action. So HG and Myka are in New York, snagging whatever has affected him. Steve, who is sitting right next to me and is totally fine, and I, are on a snag ourselves. And everything is going well. We are fine."

"Claudia, I-"

"No, in this case, I'm Miss Donovan, caretaker of Warehouse 13 and you have to trust me. Even Mrs. Frederic trusts me here, grumps." Sarah looked at Claudia, whose expression she had seen more often in the future. I was clear that she was taking care and had everything under control, and that one should not doubt her. The time traveller smiled.

"You've sent Myka and HG to New York together?" The agent on the screen asked interestedly.

The redhead shrugged. "Perhaps." She stated, rolling her eyes.

"Good." Artie bowed his head. "Good. This was overdue."

"Excellent cue!" Claudia grinned brightly. "You know what is also extremely overdue? Your vacation with Vanessa!"

"Clau-"

"And you're going to enjoy it. There's nothing to worry about. Go to the pool or something!" Still grinning, Claudia closed the Farnsworth, deliberately ignoring the agent's protest. "Good bye, Artie."

The writer smiled sadly, looking at the communication device and then at Claudia. She looked up to the building they were observing. "He is alright." The caretaker said in a calm, reassuring tone of voice.

"And he will be for a long time." Sarah nodded while clenching her jaw.

"Good." Tightening her jacket around her chest, Claudia leaned back in her seat, pulling up her legs to rest them next to the steering wheel.

They didn't speak another word, both women snuggled slightly into their seats, looking at the street in front of the building, occassionally eating fries or drinking coffee. Paul was silent, too. The time traveller could hear him quietly breathing and occasionally turning pages of his text book. After a while, she started blinking more often; her eyelids fell down and she pulled them up again, trying to focus on their stake out. Paul's and Claudia's rhythmic breathing didn't help.

Eventually, Sarah fell asleep.

___________________________________________________________________

Myka stared into the dim light shining through the curtains of their hotel room. She listened to the car noises outside and to Helena's breathing right next to herself, the Victorian's hand gently brushing across her waist.

"It seems." HG seemed to smile, even though the American currently couldn't see her face. Helena had embraced her from behind, gently spooning against her. "No one of us is going to sleep tonight."

"This feels far too good to drift away into sleep." Myka replied, closing her eyes, enjoying the other woman's touch.

"Agreed." The writer leaned forwards, burying her nose in the younger woman's hair and pressing her body closer against her back. "But," Helena said, muffled. "You're also thinking about something. I can almost hear that. Your head keeps working and spinning thoughts and sometimes I'm surprised I don't hear the rattling of gearwheels when I lean closer."

"My mind is modern technology and doesn't have any gearwheels. Claudia thinks it's more like a computer." Myka grinned and winced a little when Helena's hand wandered further up to her rib cage.

"Ticklish." The Victorian noted and brushed her fingertips lower again. "Well, modern technology has always intrigued me."

The younger woman smiled at Helena's flirting attempt, taking the other woman's hand from her waist and kissing it. She looked at the curtains again, not quite interested in the dim light they gave to the room, while drinking in the Victorian's scent from her wrist.

"Helena, I had an accident with an artifact nine months ago." She whispered, holding her breath afterwards.

The writer pulled her nose out of Myka's hair. "I've seen the... a future" The American's voice broke.

Sensing the Victorian's internal struggle, the younger woman clutched HG's wrist carefully and turned around to focus her. Helena just stared at her, pursing her lips, but then she leaned closer to kiss Myka passionately.

"I know." She breathed, pulling slightly back. "I know, Myka."

The younger woman's eyes widened. "You do?" She asked, thunderstruck. Helena knew? But why didn't she say anything? Did she remember? Oh god, did Helena remember the time travel? She had been part of the it, hadn't she? Maybe she had a similar connection to the artifact as Myka had. The younger woman's urge to touch the watch and be with its owner, the weird experience she had had when Helena came back to the Warehouse. When Myka had noticed how their future was slowly disappearing, how Sarah was crying her name and trying to cling to her. It had been a painful experience and now Helena admitted that she had known all this time?

The American frowned. "What?"

"Claudia told me about it. Not much, just that you had an accident and that you've seen something. You mentioned somebody called Sarah when you were... in this utterly disturbing state of confusion, Myka. I was so worried about you back then. I heard you say some things... that... you kissed me back then..." Here, the older woman's voice faded away. She swallowed thickly, before she met Myka's gaze again, looking more confident, now. "I know you have a daughter called Sarah in this future. And that's all." Helena reached out a cool hand to cup Myka's cheek. The Victorian shivered slightly. Myka looked into her eyes, covering the other woman's hand with her own. So Helena didn't know, she was just... informed about the reason for the younger woman's strange behaviour back then.

Myka leaned closer, burying her face against HG's shoulder, inhaling the beautiful scent she had smelt before on her wrist. "I..." She began, muffled, not knowing how to finish that sentence, how to say anything more. Myka was afraid, so afraid of this future and of changing this future, too. She was afraid of frightening Helena away with only the thought of it, the thought of having children. Because Myka knew that the broken woman still wasn't ready for anything like this and probably would never be. But she had the need to talk about this, to share this knowledge, to finally break her own silence about it.

"You should have seen her, Helena. She... was... she was beautiful. I- it was..." Myka stuttered, feeling incredibly helpless right now. Helena pulled back from her, pulled back to look into her face, silencing her with the tip of her index finger. The younger woman could see her lover smile. It was a bittersweet smile, but still a smile from the Victorian.

"You said you trust me, Myka, right?" HG whispered, sounding worried.

"Yes, I do. Oh, Helena, I do trust you. I love you." Myka's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"And... you also said we should be honest with each other." Helena received a small nod from the American.

"So... please, don't be mad at me if I say... that I don't want to know." The older woman's eyes darted away for a brief moment, then meeting the other woman's again whose face had gone completely blank. "What?" Myka asked.

"Don't get me wrong." There was this insecurity in Helena's face again. Myka had seen it so often before. "Let me explain, trust me here, please. It's different than it sounded."

The younger woman's face softened, she brushed a lock of Helena's hair out of her face. "Okay." She simply said, waiting for the Victorian's explanation. Waiting for her to take a step.

"I know a lot about time travel... at least I thought I knew a lot about time travel. I thought that being able to look into the past with my time machine, memories, that they were the only possible form of time travel. And it seems that I was wrong. You proved me wrong, Myka." Helena looked into her eyes, smiling fondly. "There are several ways of travelling through time. Apparently, you saw a possible future. You saw something that could be. I'm glad to know that there is something like this. But I don't want you to tell me about it, I don't want to know what you've seen, because... Myka, I'm currently struggling with not living in the past any longer, I'm learning to live in the present and to accept that I cannot change the past or blame anybody for it. Not even myself. And that I have a future. Whatever that might be. There is another form of time travel, and that's... that's the form of it I'd prefer, the one I want to explore myself." She leaned forwards to kiss the younger woman, possessively, claiming her. Pulling back, Helena whispered. "That form of time travel is living."

Myka nodded, accepting what she had heard. "I think I understand."

"Everything I need to know about this form is that you want to be in it. That you will be with me in the future. And we don't need to see the future with a time travel artifact to be able to know it, do we? There is only that one question that you have to answer. You love me, Myka Bering. And I want... I want to have you in my future. So please, do you want to be part of it?" Their eyes locked again, Helena smiling shyly, Myka's eyes filling with tears for a second. But then, the younger agent smiled as well, kissing the writer.

"Yes." Myka whispered. "I want that. And I want to explore every part of our future together with you."

Maybe there wasn't anything ruined about the future. Having Helena in it was everything Myka needed.


	16. Chapter 16

2044

Paul's alarm rang, because he was a very responsible person. He knew that he would fall asleep at some point if he had nothing to do except looking at the display of Sarah's brain and heart activity while the girl was sleeping. In the morning, he would need to reload the time travel cycle, when the first 22 hours and 19 minutes where up and he would have to initiate the second cycle.

After waking up, he immediately checked on her - everything was fine, Sarah was still sleeping - made himself some tea and then decided to wake her up.

"Sarah." He spoke into his microphone and heard the noise of her shifting in the car's seat. "Sarah, you have to wake up. It's almost time for the first drop and I need your full attention for this."

"Go away." His sister replied in that tone of voice he usually heard from her in the morning because she wasn't a morning person. Then, there was also the noise of Claudia grunting, because the caretaker had fallen asleep as well and wasn't a morning person either.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Ferret." He pleaded, now a little bit louder. "Please wake up."

"I hate waking up to your voice in my head." The time traveller groaned drowsily.

"Yeah, it's not very pleasant to wake up and have to babysit you either." He offered her a small laugh and then started working on his keyboard.

"So, what do I have to do? Do I need to do something? Because then I want to get some coffee first." Sarah mumbled and her brother shook his head. He remembered that she couldn't actually see him and answered. "No, just close your eyes for a few minutes for me and concentrate on something. Because now, probably, the head ache and the feeling of losing control over your body will start. Just slight headache and dizziness."

"Eyes are closed. Didn't open them yet." The writer still wasn't very awake but that wasn't necessary, Paul could work around that.

"Good. Think about your novel or Julia or something else you like." He suggested while looking at her body in front of him to check on her aura. Due to the time travel, Sarah's aura was weak, she was tired, but well.

Paul activated the program he had written for the drop and then again checked on the screen and on her aura, which was slowly changing. This was when Sarah was pulled out of Steve's body back into her own. The purple of her aura brightened, then it again decreased because now, the time machine was sending her back. Paul looked at his watch, counting down the seconds she would need to be sent back and then -

Sarah's aura flickered and then disappeared completely. Her brother rose from her chair in confusion.

"What?" He asked, dumbstruck. That was not supposed to happen. This was where the display started beeping loudly and he felt his own panic rise.

"Sarah?" The first thing he did was check on his sister by adressing her. "Can you hear me?"

She didn't reply and Paul's eyes widened when the line that showed her brain activity suddenly flattened and then rebounded far too sluggishly.

The soon-to-be engineer cursed loudly, again and again, while hammering his fingers desperately into the keyboard. Then he activated the security back up system he had installed on the time machine; it should give her a slight shock, so maybe she would come back to her mind.

He heard his sister cough in his earphones, and a noise of relief escaped his throat. Her aura was back but still flickered heavily.

"Ferret?" Paul asked desperately.

"Slight headache and dizziness? Paul!" Sarah's voice trembled and then faded out. The fact that she didn't give him a sassy comeback worried Paul.

"How do you feel?" He asked, but his sister was again silent. Now, he heard Claudia Donovan ask loudly. "Sarah? What's going on?!"

The caretakers voice was filled with panic. Paul's eyes darted to his sister's shaking body. Her breathing was irregular, something wasn't working as it should, something was wrong and he didn't know what it was. He had planned doing this reload for so long. So, well, what was going wrong?

"Sarah?"

His sister didn't reply.

Paul had always been very proud of managing problems himself but he had no problems asking for help. Watching his parents and the rest of the Warehouse family, he had learned that it was in fact important to ask for help. So there was this thought rising in his head and he pondered it only a few things before making a decision.

Paul was only afraid of the rage of four people. Three of them shared his last name, the fourth one was caretaker of Warehouse 13. His sister's best friend Julia wasn't one of them. But he feared his sister's rage if he did what he was about to do now.

Still staring at the screen, watching Sarah's fluttering heartbeat and her strange brain activicty, occassionally hitting buttons on his keyboard to manage things manually the program would usually do automatically for him, Paul took his Farnsworth out of the pocket of his jeans and decided to call Adelaide. He had to ask for help.

_____________________________________________________________

Julia walked through the B&B, unsure of what to do. She had woken up early, taken a shower, had an awkward breakfast with this Adelaide person and now, she was asking herself what to do to escape another round of Scrabble with her and all those weird kids around them. Julia had always had the feeling that Sarah was hiding something about her family from her and by now, the medicine student was sure it was the fact that the people in it seemed to be a little... strange. Crazy?

Adelaide tended to ask incredibly awkward questions, like she wanted to construct a mental image of Julia herself, her relationship with Sarah, and then of what she was planning to do with her life. Well, that much was clear: Julia was becoming a physician.

The blonde was currently walking down the stairs as she heard this typical buzzing sound she had often witnessed around Sarah. It was this communication device her friend had referred to as an retro Iphone and Julia knew that this wasn't true. She had done research, that thing didn't look anything like an actual Iphone.

"Paul!" The medicine student could hear Adelaide's voice from the kitchen. Julia knew she was eavesdropping, but Sarah and Paul had been gone for a whole day now, doing their 'thing', which was getting more and more mysterious. Especially because Julia hadn't seen anyone else from Sarah's family yet. It had come to the blonde's mind that maybe there was really something to her suspicion that the writer was hiding something from her. "How is the overtime artifact hunt going? I hope it's going well, Pete's wife is alarmed and currently I don't know how to keep Julia busy any lo- What?"

_The overtime what?_ Quietly, Julia snuck down the stairs to get more of that conversation. Paul's voice was muffled, she couldn't understand him, but he sounded alarmed.

There was this word Julia had already heard once or twice around Sarah. Artifact.

Of course the medicine student was curious about that. If somebody behaved as mysteriously as Sarah, one had to become curious about it at some point. But Julia had always hoped, waited for the writer to decide herself to let her in on that.

"No! Paul, what? Why would you do that? I am supposed to do what?" Adelaide sounded utterly horrified. "Of course I understand that Sarah's life is in danger. But... Julia?! You want us to make that decision for Sarah?"

And this was were Julia almost fell down the last steps of the stairs to quickly make it into the kitchen. "What is it with Sarah's life being in danger?" She asked quickly. "And how can I help?" Adelaide stared at her, holding that faux retro Iphone. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. The other woman could tell she was looking for an excuse.

"No, wait." Julia held up her hand defensively. "Stop pretending everything is alright and there's no mystery around your family. Currently, I absolutely don't care. If there's something wrong with Sarah, if her life is really in danger and I can help, then let's go there. Immediately! I can pretend that I'm not seeing the things I will see."

Adelaide stared at her for three seconds. Julia could actually count them. One, two, three, then the older woman closed the Farnsworth abruptly. "Junior!" She yelled, reaching forwards, to pull Julia on her wrist through the kitchen into the hall.

The teenage boy replied from upstairs, sounding as annoyed as teenage boys should sound. "Yeah?"

"Please pay attention to the kids, will you? I will call your mother so she will come over. That would be about an hour you have to babysit." Adelaide stated loudly.

"Is something wrong? Artifact?" Junior Lattimer asked in his annoyed tone of voice. Julia trembled while Adelaide pulled her through the hall and opened the front door. "Yeah!" The woman yelled. "But we have everything under control."

On the way to the car, Adelaide pulled out her phone and called Mrs. Lattimer to update her on an incident 'in the Warehouse, and I need to get there, so you'll have to come home'.

Everything was happening so fast. Suddenly, Julia found herself sitting in Adelaide's car, wearing only a shirt and sweat pants and no shoes. Maybe she should have...

"So." Adelaide swallowed once while driving through the streets of this strange hicktown called 'Univille' like something was on fire.

"Long story short. Your girlfriend-"

"Best friend." Julia corrected her.

"Yes, sorry. Sarah is part of a top secret facility which hunts down and stores dangerous supernatural objects." The older woman hit the gas pedal hard.

Julia was pressed into the seat. She also was impressed and nodded. "I'm just going to pretend I actually understood what that means."

"Well, there are objects in the world which can cause a lot of havoc and we are looking for them and store them in this really big Warehouse to make sure no one comes into contact with them." Adelaide smiled. "Well, actually there are other people looking for them. I'm one of those who make sure nobody notices them doing their job."

"Objects? Running havoc?" The younger woman asked in confusion.

"Magic. It's not exactly magic, but imagine magic, Sarah will probably explain it better to you later. If she won't kill Paul and me before that." Adelaide grumbled.

"Magic?" Julia was confused.

"Time travel, invisibility, telekinesis, things that humanity isn't ready for, yet." The other woman explained.

"And Sarah is working for you?" Julia blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what she just had heard, but failing poorly at it.

"No, in fact, her mothers were Warehouse agents once. Now, they do the same job I do. Sarah is only a writer who was born into this mess." They both leaned hard into the curve Adelaide was currently driving. Julia saw a long road in a smaller canyon and a big building at the end of that road. And... wow... what was actually happening right now? Ten minutes ago, her worst problem had been avoiding playing Scrabble with Mrs. Crazytown and her kids. Now she was being introduced in some secret... stuff.

"And I guess 'top secret' means you have to kill me after I have done what I am supposed to do?" Julia laughed helplessly, panicking.

"No, we're allowed to tell one person in our life." Adelaide stated seriously, like it explained anything at all. But Julia was utterly at a loss.

"Okay... I guess you just made me Sarah's 'one person'? So now you have taken that decision from Sarah and she'll get really furious because you did that?" The medicine student couldn't tell if this was really a better outcome.

"Don't tell me there isn't something special between you two." The older woman hit the gas pedal even harder; Julia was sure she would die today. If not of this woman's driving skills, then probably of Sarah's hands.

"If you want to call friendship special." The younger woman shook her head. "So, what am I supposed to do? I don't know anything about magic, or ...uhm ...artifacts?"

"Well, currently Sarah is trapped in H.G. Wells' time machine." Adelaide explained and Julia bowed her head and shrugged. "Of course she is." She replied in a very high pitched voice.

"And something about her medical condition is not as it should be." The older woman added.

"So, and I'm a medicine student in my second year and I am supposed to help people who deal with magic." Julia concluded nervously.

The car stopped with squealing wheels. "Yes." Adelaide replied simply and jumped out of the car.

Julia followed her immediately. The dust they had stirred up was already settling back down. The medicine student looked up at this huge building, a crow or a raven sitting on its roof, staring down on them.

"This looks utterly inviting." Julia commented monotonously then jumped when Adelaide straightened herself up. "I am Adelaide, a Regent and I'm responsible for whatever is caused by this person from now on." She yelled at the Warehouse, then she pulled out a remote that apparently was linked to its door. The opening was far too small for this kind of building, but Julia only shrugged. She felt some draught on her neck, but when she turned around, she couldn't find anything. The medicial student looked at the taller woman.

"We have to introduce new people to the Warehouse like this." Adelaide explained in reaction the the younger woman's questioning look. "We have this forcefield that activates if the Warehouse is in danger and, well, it could be that it activated once or twice on false alarm, trapping everyone inside the Warehouse, or reacting to people not the way it should. It's still not working quite like it should."

"Yes, those normal problems you have running a top secret facility that hunts down and stores supernatural objects." Julia followed Adelaide in some sort of white tunnel, shooting nervous glimpses at everything.

Julia reached out her hand for one of those pillars, interestedly, but pulled back quickly as she read 'Explosives' and Adelaide hissed "Don't touch the bombs!" at her.

And then, they bumped into Claudia Donovan. Julia knew Claudia, she was the woman who had visited them rather often in New York, almost every time spontaneously, and sometimes, it seemed, out of nowhere. The difference to Claudia's usual appearance was that, currently, she was made of stone. Julia asked herself if this really was Claudia Donovan or just a statue of her. Because, from what she had gotten of the redhead's character, and now this top secret thing, it could be either.

"Okay, it is as bad as the kids described it. Bad idea to have them handle that all alone." Adelaide huffed in disapproval. "They are kids. They said they can handle it... but look at it now."

The two women entered a big room Julia would describe at a messy office, with a lot of statues in them. Her eyes widened, as she recognised their faces. Faces she had seen before in pictures.

"So, Julia... the rest of the family, frozen in stone." Adelaide waved around the room. "We don't have time for that." Again, the older woman grabbed the younger one's wrist and pulled her through the office, on a gallery. Here, Julia loosened her arm from the 'Regent's' hand and just... stared.

"Welcome to Warehouse 13." Adelaide said in an official tone of voice. The first thing Julia recognised, were... shelves. A lot of them. Then she realized how big that room actually was they just had entered. She couldn't make out the end of it, just staring... and trying to make heads or tails of what she just witnessed. "Whoa..." Was everything she managed, facing the endless... room of shelves in front of her.

"Yeah, we don't have any time for that either." The other woman smiled a little helplessly and was about to take Julia's hand again. But the medicine student pulled back. "I can walk on my own. Just show me the way."

And then, they jogged silently. Through aisles and aisles of shelves. The younger woman knew her mouth was hanging wide open while she followed Adelaide and feeling her eyes darting to several objects. She wished she had more time to actually find out what was stored here. Everything looked so innocent. But then, there were bigger lockers and Adelaide entered one of them quickly.

In it, Paul sat in front of a screen, rubbing his forehead nervously "I- I tried everything." He stuttered. Julia couldn't help but see how incredibly helpless he looked. He was only a boy, nineteen years old and...

Sarah lay in a chair, so many cables and devices linked to her head, her whole body shaking and trembling. Her lips were blue, her breathing was so erratic.

Julia didn't waste a single second on asking herself questions about where she had landed. She reached forwards, her hand closing around Sarah's wrist to check on her pulse.

"Paul, what the hell are you doing to her?" She yelled.


	17. Chapter 17

2014

Myka woke up with the feeling of Helena's lips gently pressed against her forehead. The older woman held her closely, long limbs wrapped tightly around her. It was like the American was cuddled up in her own HG-shaped sheet that had a heartbeat and breathed rhythmically.

She smiled and nuzzled into the writer's neck, feeling the vibration of her chuckle against her own skin. "So at least one of us got some sleep tonight." The Victorian whispered, kissing her forehead again.

"You didn't?" Myka asked, worried. But Helena just sighed. "I got something better: watching you sleep. Which is utterly delightful."

"Oh." The younger woman wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed, or not. So she just shifted downwards, hiding herself under the bedsheet.

"Myka? Are you alright?" The inventor lifted the sheet up slightly to look down at her. "No." Myka replied and reached up her arm to pull it down again. "It's early in the morning, I haven't had any coffee yet, I should probably brush my teeth before I face you properly... and also we have got to go back to the Warehouse today. Which is the thing that bugs me most, because, well, I really like this bubble made of this hotel room... and the fact that you're naked down there."

Myka leaned forwards to softly kiss the inside curve of Helena's breast, hearing the other woman chuckle. "I am?" HG asked, faking surprise. "Let me check on that." The writer joined the younger woman under the bed sheet. "Good morning, love." She whispered, smiling brightly and pecking a kiss on Myka's cheek.

"Good morning." The younger woman replied and held a hand in front of her mouth.

"So, you're still here." She murmured, muffled.

Helena raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly. "Yes, indeed I am. Is there something that surprises you about that, Myka? I thought-"

"Oh god, no. That came out differently than I wanted it to... It's just... well...I'm pretty sure I have morning breath and my hair is all messy and-" Myka was interrupted by Helena, who started crying out:

"Oh my god, Agent Bering! Did you know that we are both in fact women with normal bodies which don't look and smell all nice in the morning?" The Victorian's eyes widened.

"Don't laugh at me. That's also not what I meant." The younger agent rolled her eyes.

"So... then tell me, please, after I quickly express that I am very fond of your messy morning hair." The Victorian smiled and brushed the back of her hand against Myka's forearm.

"It's this sudden normality with you, Helena." Myka replied, still with her hand in front of her mouth. "It's... in between all that saving of the world and H.G. Wells is a woman and time travel, it's actually nice to have some sort of normality with you. Not that we are normal, we aren't normal at all, which is a good thing. But it's nice to wake up in your arms, to have messy hair and morning breath like a normal couple."

Helena studied her for a short moment. "So what you're trying to say is that we are two extraordinary woman who can have some slight normalcy in their relationship with each other?"

Myka shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know what I am saying anymore. Right now I am facing you naked in front of me and I'm babbling..."

Helena leaned forwards to brush her lips against the younger woman's shoulder. "I'd say that I am also enjoying waking up with you in my arms, morning breath and messy hair, Myka. And from what I got from your speech, I would say we're both enjoying that we can now be comfortable around each other." She turned her head to kiss Myka's cheek. "Even though you still won't kiss me with with that morning breath, am I right?"

The younger woman nodded, still pressing her hand to her mouth.

"Alright." Helena lifted the sheet to slip out of bed. Myka poked out her head as well, facing the other woman, who stood next to the bed completely naked, with her hands on her hips. "Then you should probably brush your teeth before you join me in the shower. Because I plan on kissing you there... a lot. Among other things." With a impressive sway of her hips, Helena turned around and walked into the bath room.

Myka's head fell back on the pillow. She closed her eyes, smiling. This was just... easy. Communicating with Helena was actually easy!

She laughed before rising from the bed to follow the other woman into the bathroom.

"What do you think that receptionist would say if she knew you haven't used the other room at all?" She asked, but then yelped loudly when, all of a sudden, Helena pulled her close into the corner in the bathroom.

Neither of them heard the Farnsworth ring because they were busy with each other in the shower.

_________________________________________________

Claudia closed her Farnsworth, a loud curse escaping her mouth. She looked anxiously at the trembling and shaking body in front of her in the car seat, Steve's body with her friends' daughter in it... or not. The redhead wasn't sure anymore. It was terrifying to watch the seizure they were having. And of course the only persons of whom Claudia knew they knew something about time travel, especially that time machine Sarah was using, weren't taking her call.

The caretaker was just about to teleport directly in one of their hotel rooms as Steve's body suddenly reached out their hand, gripping onto her coat. Claudia yelped surprised and took a step back on the street, just to inch closer to the car again immediately.

And then Steve was taking a deep breath, sounding incredibly sick whilst doing it, but he looked directly at her, coughing.

"Sarah?" Claudia asked, worried. "Steve? Sarah?"

"Sarah." The person in the car in front of the redhead replied breathlessly. "Sarah... and oh my god!"

Sarah fell back into the seat, her eyes closed. Quickly, Claudia held a hand on her forehead, checking if she was running temperature or anything, because... that just had been frightening.

"What the hell just happened?!" The caretaker was sure she had lost the ability to keep her voice quiet along with her cool on the street when she had gone around the car to help the the time traveler.

"Give me a few seconds. I have to adjust myself to what just has happened and currently, there are rather a lot people shouting at each other in my head." The writer sighed deeply.

"More people than just your brother?" Claudia's question was rewarded with a weak nod from Sarah.

"Adelaide." She whispered, still out of breath. "And my best friend Julia."

"So..." Claudia tried to handle the information that she wasn't on this artifact hunt with only Sarah and Paul but also with this child asked Abigail to watch and a mysterious fourth person.

"Paul tried to send me back after the first 22 hours and 19 minutes were up, Claud. And well, it seems his program has caused a kind of seizure in combination with the fact that I'd fallen asleep and..." Sarah listened up for a moment, then she looked like she was amused about some information she just had heard. "That my body is dehydrated."

For a second the girl looked like she was in pain. "Uhhh, Julia just slapped Paul. I really wish I could have seen that. Anyway... it seems Julia has saved me and now my best friend knows about my secret life in Univille." There was a bitter smile on the time traveler's face.

"I'm just glad you're fine." Claudia let go a breath of relief.

"Well, we're figuring that out at the moment. Yes, Julia, I'm well... and hi there." Sarah looked up to the upper left while talking, clearly showing she was currently communicating with those people inside her head. "Yes, I live in Crazytown, South Dakota. Listen... Julia I'm sorry, I really wish to describe this further to you, but currently, I'm busy, I think, because I'm trying to un-mess this situation with my family upstairs frozen in stone." She sighed loudly. "Yes, I promise to explain everything properly to you when I'm done. Could you just check on my condition and then tell me if I'm allowed to carry on?"

Claudia's eyes widened. Had Sarah just really implied going on with the artifact hunt after what had happened? In this condition? "Sarah, is that a good idea? I mean..."

The other woman looked at her, raising one of Steve's eyebrows. "So, you do know that I'm the daughter of two workaholics who would carry on as well?"

The caretaker huffed as she saw Sarah jolting up from her seat, leaving the car. "I don't know if I can agree with that, Sarah. It's also Steve's body." She tried but was rewarded with an excessive shake of the time traveler's head. "My family's still in danger. So let's go interview those lawyers."

Claudia wanted to reply something to make sure the other woman really was alright, but then she was interrupted by the ring of her own Farnsworth.

________________________________________________________________

Myka gently scrubbed Helena's back with body wash and then let the hot water run over it. The Victorian moaned softly in reaction to the younger woman's gentle touches.

Then, the writer spun around on her heels to cover the American's neck and shoulders with gentle kisses. But then, HG stopped her motion to regard a certain point on Myka's right shoulder carefully.

"Myka." She asked interestedly. "Tell me, that scar? What happened?"

Looking up into her eyes, Helena found the American conflicted. Myka chewed on her lower lip and then pulled the writer closer.

"It's a gunshot wound." She replied and pressed her lips onto Helena's temple.

"A gunshot wound?" The Victorian cupped Myka's cheeks to look into her eyes. "When did you get shot? I didn't know you did."

The younger woman pulled back, took the body wash and started soaping herself. She looked extremely nervous. Avoiding the older woman's eyes, Myka started speaking:"I... I never did, Helena."

"Alright, and that's not only confusing, now you're also avoiding explaining it?" Helena tilted her head at the question. "It's... I thought..."

"Well, okay." Quickly, Myka washed away the soap and then pulled HG closer again, grabbing onto her hips. "You said you don't want to know what I've seen during my experience with the future, right?"

The older woman's eyes widened. "Oh."

"I'll try without mentioning it. Well, it wasn't that I'd only travelled to a future, seeing it. It was connected to a complete body swap. And older version of me came back in time and she was chasing... somebody in the present, I guess. I can only imagine what really happened, because I wasn't there." Helena watched Myka struggle with explaining confusing possibilities of time travel. During the time she did research for her time machine, the Victorian had experienced comparable situations. She sighed.

"There has been a conflict? Is it that what you are trying to say?" She tried to help the younger woman out.

"Yes, but then... there was a certain incident, I believe, in the distant future and while trying to undo it, the... person who was responsible for it also undid the time line in which I actually time travelled and got shot." Myka looked down into her eyes and tried a small smile. "It sounds so confusing when talking about it. But that's the conclusion I came to when I thought more thoroughly about it."

"Time travel is a rather confusing topic, I can only imagine." Helena smiled back. "But... then, if you're saying that the shooting never actually happened, why do you still have a scar?"

The American shrugged; she looked desperate, while narrowing her eyes and looking at the water running down their bodies. "I don't know. Well, Helena, it's difficult to explain. I was in a very unsettling emotional condition back then, because... it was shortly after I'd visited you in Boone, and... I was worried thinking about whether you'd ever come back. If we would ever... find the way to each other." She paused and kissed Helena's forehead again. "At first, before I knew to what other cirumstances this time travel was linked, I just thought this watch tried to show me a nice future with you. I know you don't want me to talk about it. But I thought it was all happening to make me feel better when I was anxious about you, to assure me everything was going to be alright. And after that was undone and never happened... I thought that the scar is maybe there to keep me from going insane."

Helena watched the different emotions on Myka's face and struggled with the urge to get deeper into the topic and to keep herself from having the emotions that would be linked to this discussion.

"So I could wait for you to come back without feeling bad myself." HG could hear that Myka tried to express these words as careful as possible. The younger woman really didn't want to hurt her.

Helena carefully brushed her hand across the skin on Myka's right shoulder. She smiled carefully, before looking again up into her eyes. "Scars remind us that the past is real, Myka." She whispered, feeling the tears swell in her eyes. "Maybe yours is there to remind you of the future?"

The other woman pursed her lips and lowered her gaze. "I... you don't..."

HG shook her head and interrupted the other woman's struggle for words by leaning forwards and press her lips onto the scar. She cared so much for Myka that - even though she wasn't sure if she could ever give Myka the future she had seen for herself or for them - she wanted to let her know that she wouldn't let her struggle with it all on her own.

Lips made contact with skin and suddenly-

_Something cut through Helena's mind like a sharp blade, green eyes, looking into her own. A watch lying on a table, a spicy drink burning her throat, something was off and Helena tried to find out what had happened._

HG stumbled through the shower with her eyes closed and almost slipped. Her fingernails dug into Myka's skin desperately trying to get some hold. After exclaiming her name in an utterly horrified tone of voice, Myka steadied her. The younger woman led the Victorian out of the shower, gently pushing her down on the toilet seat. "Are you alright?"

There was this dizziness and nausea. Helena knew it, she had had it so often, back when she had travelled back in time excessively with her machine. But this was worse.

"I..." She pressed over her lips, trying to catch her breath. "I don't feel that good."

Myka knelt in front of her. HG looked at her. They were both dripping wet, the bathroom's floor flooded and the shower still running. "What can I do? You're completely pale."

"I..." Helena tried, but the nausea hit her again. She stood up quickly, turned around and only just opened the toilet before retching into it.

"Oh Helena." Gently, Myka rubbed her naked back. "What's going on? Suddenly, you're... Can I get you something?"

The Victorian looked up. "A towel maybe...?" She absend-mindedly clutched her locket. "And maybe glass of cold water. It's already...better...almost."

Helena tried to fight the new wave of dizziness and nausea but couldn't help it.


	18. Chapter 18

Myka hurried into the bedroom, wrapped in nothing but a small towel. She had given Helena both of the bigger ones that had been provided by housekeeping. The younger woman was heading for a small fridge in a cupboard when she froze. As her gaze wandered across the window, she couldn't help but scream. Loudly. She jumped back: on the windowsill, there sat a big, black creature, apparently a raven, staring at her with its dark eyes like it was trying to look into her soul.

The agent stared back, anxiously, pondering what to do. Meanwhile, Helena's ongoing noisy sickness had already started to fade away. "Myka?" The Victorian asked weakly, causing Myka to snap back to herself.

"I...just..." The younger woman replied, trying to approach the cupboard without taking her eyes off the animal. This ...creature was far too big for a normal raven. And the way it looked at her was utterly terrifying.

Swathed in the two bigger towels, Helena appeared in the door frame that led to the bathroom. "Why did you scream?" She asked, still pale as death.

"There's this thing..." Myka tried and pointed at the window. The other woman looked at the raven with her eyebrows furrowed. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she looked like she actually recognised the creature.

"Munin?" Helena whispered and stepped closer to the window. Quickly, Myka took a look into her mental library and found the note about Odin's ravens: Munin (memory) was one of a pair, flying through the world and updating him on what they had seen.

"Did you just give that creature a name, Helena?" The younger woman asked in a horrified tone of voice.

The writer shook her head and slowly walked over to the window to... actually open it.

"Helena, you won't let that beast inside? I don't know, but have you heard of bird fl- ah of course you're letting that beast inside." Myka shrugged as she watched the bird make it into the room and settling down on the desk lamp.

"So... why are we letting creepy giant birds into our hotel room now?" The American asked warily as she watched Helena staring fixedly at the animal and reaching a hand out for it. "You're not going to touch it, are y- why am I actually asking?"

"Myka, it's not a bird." The Victorian replied while caressing the raven's blueish-black feathers.

"Not?" Myka asked in a high-pitched tone of voice. "What is it then... a mammal? Is it a dinosa-" Of course, then it hit her. The bird was an artifact. "Oh."

"It's the one of two which usually sit on the Warehouse's roof." Helena explained, rubbing her forehead.

"You mean there are more artifact birds and... they have a purpose or something?" Myka approached Helena slowly, eyeing the bird nervously. "How do you feel, Helena?"

"A little better." The writer replied, still staring at the bird. "I collected this artifact back in London for Warehouse 12. I don't know what happened after that, but on its purpose, those birds were able to collect information for the user. Now that I've seen them on the rooftop of Warehouse 13, I think the caretaker uses them to, well... spy on the events around the Warehouse." Helena conclued quietly.

"So, you mean it's Claudia's little way of spying on us?" Myka assumed.

"Well, at least around the Warehouse. I cannot tell why he's here now." The Victorian shrugged. "Maybe it's a sign." Again, she reached out her hand for the bird and then shook her head. "Myka, can you call Claudia and ask?"

The younger woman nodded. "Of course I can." She quickly picked up her shirt from the ground to pull it over her head. Then, after looking for the Farnsworth (still shooting disquieted glances at Helena and the bird staring at each other like they were in some deeper communication), she opened it and called the caretaker.

"Uh, I didn't know somebody installed a callback function to the Farnsworth." Claudia smiled sheepishly on the screen.

"Hello, Claud." Myka replied and furrowed her eyebrows. "You called us? I just wanted to check if everything's alright at the Warehouse."

"Of course everything's alright over here." Claudia nodded profusely. "No one is having seizures or anything."

"Seizures?" The older woman's eyes widened.

"I said there are no seizures, Myka. Why are you talking about seizures? Nobody is talking about seizures." The redhead's words tumbled out in a rush.

"Are you okay, Claud?" Myka asked, confused.

"Me? Yeah. I'm completely okay. Everything is alright. And the reason I called you is already not important anymore. Uhm, _Jinksy_ ," the redhead looked nervously at something out of sight, "who is walking right next to me and is totally fine- and I are currently on our own artifact hunt in Sioux Falls, so, I don't really know what it's like in the Warehouse. But I'm sure they are okay."

"Okay."

"Why are you asking?" Claudia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, because right now I've got Helena and a big black raven in our hotel room having some kind of moment with each other." Myka struggled for words.

The caretaker's eyebrows darted up. " _Your_ hotel room? Like the two of you are sharing one?"

"Claudia! There is a creepy giant raven here and he looks like the one from the Warehouse roof." The agent ignored Claudia's attempt to get information out of her about Helena's and her relationship status.

"Munin?" The redhead asked interestedly. "What is he doing in New York?"

"That's what I'm asking you, Claud! Since I didn't even know that we had him!" Myka grunted.

"Yeah, I don't know. You're saying he's with HG? ...in your _shared_ hotel room?" Claudia grinned.

"Claudia!"

"Maybe he just wanted to be with the woman who snagged him. Right now I can't tell what he's doing, the connection to him decreases with the distance between us, I'm sure it shouldn't, but I haven't learned to manage that properly, yet. But let me assure you that ... _Steve_ and I are alright." The caretaker stated, shrugging. "We're about to talk to some lawyers."

The conversation with Claudia didn't help Myka any further, so she called Abigail - after a pleading look from Helena - to check on her and Adelaide. The former therapist assured them as well that they were alright and waiting for the mattress delivery.

"I'm still not sure, Myka." Helena whispered after she had opened the window again for the bird to allow him out. "I have the feeling something's wrong."

"That's not very specific, Helena." Myka shrugged. "But if you think we should go home, then we will."

The Victorian turned her head to look at her, mustered her for a few seconds. "Yes." She replied, nodding. "I really wish to go home as fast as possible."

____________________________________________________

Helena still didn't feel that good, but at least a little better. The nausea was gone, but the dizziness was still there.

Besides that, she was impressed at how fast Myka managed to pack their things and check out of the hotel with her. How fast the younger woman managed to get them to the airport. The American flashed her badge everywhere, even if not particularly neccessary.

"Emergency!" The younger agent told the woman behind the counter at the airport. "We need to go to South Dakota as fast as possible."

"And you are?" The woman asked annoyedly.

"Federal agents. Secret service." Myka flashed her badge for a second time at the woman. "Agent Myka Bering and..." She looked at Helena. "Agent Wells, agent under me."

The Victorian grinned. Myka had to say that. Of course she had to.

"So you want to go to South Dakota? I thought the president was currently in Washington." The woman blinked and leaned back in her chair.

"Listen, lady." Myka leaned over the counter, closer to the woman. "I am a very busy agent with a very stressful job and this is a case of..." She again looked up to the Victorian next to her. "...of a matter of national security. So get us two seats in a plane to Pierce or so God help me, I will pour your Starbucks coffee over your files. And then send somebody to you who will thoroughly check if you're paying your taxes the way you should. I am deathly serious right now!"

____________________________________________________

Hours after Myka had called Claudia, the caretaker and Sarah walked out of the lawyers' office. Both women were annoyed. The time traveler felt better, had recovered from her seizure, but they hadn't gotten any closer to anything artifact related. Sarah was frustrated. Utterly frustrated. With the help of Adelaide, Paul and even Julia in her head, she had asked questions suitable for a secret service agent. They had even talked the lawyers into letting them search through their office for the artifact, but of course there hadn't been anything. The time traveler started doubting her purpose in this time. She had made it through one and a half days of entirely pointless artifact investigation with Claudia. Sarah was usually a calm person, who liked things to go peacefully, but she was also very impulsive and got frustrated easily.

So it was no wonder she kicked her foot against the Prius' wheel in annoyance now. Claudia sighed deeply.

"Sarah. It's my fault we wasted time on that, okay? Not yours. It was my idea to investigate the attourney's office." She carefully patted the girl's shoulder - Steve's shoulder, actually. She had to reach up to do that. "Now it's time to get to the next shop in this building. That's no reason to get mad or ...damage Steve's Prius. We both know that the Prius is a sacred thi-"

"I'm frustrated, Claud. There must be something. Look, I've wasted a whole day on artifact investigation with you which was completely pointless." Sarah looked at the caretaker, who showed her a slightly hurt facial expression. "No offense." The time traveler added quickly.

"Yeah, no problem." Claudia crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"The thing I don't understand is why Claudia - my Claudia - has send me back through time so I'm here yesterday-"

"Is this sentence even grammatically right?" The redhead grinned.

"...when there isn't even happening anything today that brings us any closer to rescuing my parents? I mean, it's clear that everything that happened today... and yesterday - has already happened, right?" Sarah shrugged.

"Well, maybe she - I? - She wanted you to set your parents up with each other? I've heard they now share a hotel room." The caretaker tried, smiling brightly.

"No, it cannot be just that." The other woman looked around the street. "We're missing something. We are actually missing something. Everything that has happened that day has already happenend..."

_That's the essence of travelling through time with momma's time machine._ Paul agreed.

_-Wait, if we're talking about travelling with H.G. Wells' time machine..._ Julia suddenly mentioned. _...then you really mean H.G. Wells, the famous author... has built a time machine?_

"Yes, Julia. She has." Sarah replied automatically.

Claudia looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.

_What do you mean by 'She'? And talking about that... your last name is 'Bering-Wells'?_ It seemed that the blonde struggled a lot with putting the obvious sense into the information she just had received.

"I mean that Helena. G. Wells, the H.G. Wells is currently upstairs, frozen in stone. She's a woman." The time traveler explained.

_Your mom is H. G. Wells? Your mom - who is a woman - is H. G. Wells - who is a woman._ Julia squeaked.

"Paul?" Sarah asked hopefully. Now, she could hear the voices of Paul and Adelaide trying to explain the reason Sarah had always been quiet during lectures in University that were about literature from the Victorian age.

The writer paid no mind to that. Instead, she looked around the street, still looking for a reason, a reason to be here... a small detail she was missing. A-

Sarah grunted. "Of course!" She exclaimed.

Claudia looked questioningly at her. She had been quiet during the other woman's discussion with the people inside her mind, but now she seemed to be unsure if Sarah was talking to her or not.

"You talking to me?" The caretaker asked carefully. Sarah started walking over the street, staring at the building in which they had investigated for hours. "Of course!"

"Yeah, okay... can you be a little less Mrs. Frederic and a little more Myka or something? Please explain your thoughts, I cannot follow you, currently speaking figuratively." Claudia quickly walked right behind the writer.

"Mattresses." Sarah shot her a glance like it would explain anything.

"Alright. Yeah! Mattresses. That's... what the frak are you trying to say?" The redhead still seemed to be struggling with the other woman's words.

"This is a delivery service. Look at the truck." Sarah pointed at a big, white truck with type on it saying 'McKenzie Delivery service'.

Heading for the delivery service's door, the time traveller looked at Claudia "Abigail is waiting for a delivery of king sized matresses, I suppose?" She asked. Sarah struggled a little bit with finding words, because in her head, she could still hear Paul, Julia and Adelaide whispering with each other.

"Oh, frak!" Claudia's eyes widened.

They quickly entered the office behind the service's door, approaching the counter. Sarah straightened Steve's shoulders and flashed his badge. "Secret Service, Agent Steven Jinks."

_Well done._

The woman behind the counter looked surprised. "Secret Service? In Sioux Falls?"

"Yeah, I have a question. A quick question." The time traveler leaned over the counter, close to the secretary.

"Is there a delivery of king sized matresses for a small city four hours away from Sioux Falls called 'Univille' today? Customer should be Abigail Cho." Sarah spoke quickly, but with a calm tone of voice.

"Is this important for the-"

"Yes, this is important for the president's safety." Claudia nodded profusely.

"Oh, okay." The woman behind the counter started typing into her keyboard. She sighed when she looked at her computer screen. "Yes, indeed there is. Came in yesterday. But they are already gone. The truck left about an hour ago."

Without another word, Sarah spun on her heels to leave the shop. She headed for the Prius, hearing Claudia walking closely behind her.

"So what I am saying." Sarah huffed. "Is that yesterday I didn't merely cause my parents to visit New York together, it's also that I ensured that Abigail would need a delivery service for mattresses because I was investigating the building with this particular delivery service in it."

Claudia blinked a few times. "That's confusing." She stated.

Sarah glared at her, stopping in front of the car's door. "That's time travel and all the - how did you put it? - 'shitfuckery' connected to it, Claudia. The older you sent me here to do things that allow her to sent me here. Probably without her knowledge."

"I will get headache." The caretaker exclaimed.

"Yeah, you should have seen me when I did the thing with the watch back then." Sarah admitted and watched the redhead's eyes widen. "Wait, that was really you? Not some alternate time line Sarah?"

The time traveler pulled the gun out of her belt and handed it to Claudia. "You can teleport. You should go to the B&B immeadiately, while I'll drive there by car. So you can make sure everything will be alright until I'm in Univille. It probably won't get dangerous until I show up. But you have to keep an eye on Adelaide and Abigail."

Claudia looked questioningly at her. "You think it'll get dangerous then?"

Sarah shrugged. "I have an incredibly bad feeling about my connection to the events linked to this artifact hunt, Claudia. Time travel is not only confusing, but also dangerous. I would stop here, but we both know I can't. And we still need that artifact."


	19. Chapter 19

_Helena ran and ran. She didn't know why she had started running, but she knew it was important. She had to get to her destination quickly. It was important. So she ran, without knowing where she was going._

_The darkness surrounded her, as it always did. It crept up her shoulders, strangling her, leaving her no air to breathe. Helena was afraid of becoming motionless again, of being unable to run, of being frozen in bronze again. Of being unable to go where she had to go._

_Light cut through the darkness of her dream. There was a person kneeling a few metres in front of her. She had no idea who this person was, even though she had already seen her face. Often. The intruder of her dreams, the woman that had once given her strength: now she was kneeling there looking utterly helpless. Dark, curly hair fell in front of her face so Helena couldn't see it. But the writer knew what she would see if that woman looked up. She knew that this woman had green eyes. They were bright and usually full of hope, even though there wasn't anything here that could give them hope._

_The woman wept, she shivered. Made Helena shiver in reaction, made her feel anxious._

_"Please." The intruder of her dreams whispered breathlessly. "Please."_

_"What can I do?" Helena demanded. "Why are you here?"_

_The woman looked up, let the Victorian find those green eyes with the slight tinge of grey. They bored into her own, bright and desperate, glistening with tears. Helena tumbled back when she looked into those eyes. Eyes she had seen before on another woman. Eyes that belonged to a different face._

_"Who are you?" She hissed, desperate to know the answer. Who was this intruder of her dreams who had Myka's eyes?_

_"Please." The woman whispered again, not reacting to her questions. The expression on her face was desperate, helpless. Something was wrong._

_"Please help me."_

Helena jolted upright in her seat next to Myka on the plane. She was breathing heavily, trying to find out where she was. She could feel the younger woman's hand on her shoulder. HG turned her head to look at her. The American's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, and apparently this was because she was worried about Helena.

"You have had a bad dream." Myka explained like it was necessary. It wasn't. Helena had had nightmares since she had been de-bronzed. Since she had come back into this world. HG was so used to it, and still it made her feel unsettled. She was unable to fight those dreams, to deal with them properly. To not let them get to her this much.

But this dream had been different. There had been this person. Helena looked into Myka's bright green eyes, watched the slight hint of grey in them. She asked herself if she had really seen exactly these eyes in the intruder's face. If she had really seen somebody with Myka's hair and her eyes, asking for her help. But Myka was here. Myka was here, so she could...

"One of many more." The Victorian said weakly. She leaned over to cuddle into the younger woman's arm. Myka embraced her tightly, pulled her closer and softly stroked her hand over the writer's hair.

"You have nightmares?" She whispered. "Regularly? Is this why you didn't sleep tonight?"

They were entangled with one another in these small plane seats, surrounded by so many people and Helena really didn't know if she wanted to talk about this right here and now. But this was Myka. Myka was good. Myka wanted to be good for her.

So HG nodded. "Yes." She replied. "I do. They are awful." And so Helena told her love about the dreams she kept having, about losing Christina, Adelaide or Myka at night. Not every night, but often enough to keep her occupied. To let her fear the darkness.

She told Myka about the men she had killed. Here she lowered her voice, whispered the words into the younger woman's ears while she felt the soothing carress of Myka's hand on her scalp. The plane was bringing them back to South Dakota; Helena's dreams were bringing her back into her past.

But Myka didn't judge. She didn't judge. Instead, she listened attentively to every word Helena told her. Occassionally, she nodded or added something. But all the time, she looked like she cared about Helena. And HG knew she did.

And still, even though she allowed Myka to see her own dark side, now, Helena wasn't confident enough to tell her about that woman with the green eyes who had intruded her dreams.

________________________________________________________

"Damn it!" Sarah slapped her hand against the steering wheel repeatedly, while driving the car through Sioux Falls. Claudia had just called her via Farnsworth to update her that currently, everything in the B&B was alright. Now they could only wait for the delivery guys to show up.

Meanwhile, the time traveller struggled with the past's traffic (right after she was done struggling with adjusting the car's seat to Steve's body).

"Paul!" She adressed her brother. "I want you to give me every bit of information on that delivery service. I want to know everything about everybody currently employed there."

_Oh, yes, just wait for me to find my magic wand._ Paul replied dryly. _What do you expect me to do? Go there and ask?_

There was the noise of Julia and Adelaide giggling.

"Listen, brother." Sarah growled. "They had a computer. You are Claudia Donovan 2.0. Do something. If that computer has ever been connected to the internet, you should be able to find something out, shouldn't you?"

_You think that I can hack into a computer that existed 30 years ago?_ Paul asked interestedly.

"I expect you to do it, Paul. I need you to do it." His sister huffed. The younger child was silent for a while, then she heard him sigh.

_I have to say that I feel slightly challenged._ He stated.

"Good." Sarah grinned to herself. "Then I'll have to say that I'm actually challenging you."

_Well, what else can I do than accept?_ Paul replied in a smug tone of voice. _I'm going to need time._

His sister just drove onto the Highway. "Well." She smiled. "You have about four hours."

_Don't expect me to say I'd do it in two. This is going to need time._

"Okay." The time traveler nodded.

_Oh, and Sarah?_ Paul suddenly sounded quite amused.

"Yes, brother?" The writer rolled her eyes.

_Did you know Steve's cover is the ATF and not the Secret Service?_ Paul quietly giggled.

"You let me...?" Sarah's eyes widened, but then she shook her head. "You're an asshole, Paul."

_I'm sorry. You were so wonderful in that role..._ Her brother giggled again, but Sarah decided to ignore him.

"Is Julia around?" She asked carefully.

_Yes I am, Bells._ The voice of her best friend reached her.

"I'm sorry that my life is a mess." Sarah sighed. "I promise that I'll do as much as possible to keep you out of this."

_That's a nice offer, Sarah. But have you considered that I maybe don't want to be kept out of your messy life?_ Julia replied in a serious tone of voice.

Sarah's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

_Just... well, just go there and do what you have to do. We'll figure this out. Meanwhile, I'll check on your condition and wait for you to be ready to tell me._ There was something in the other woman's voice that caused Sarah to wince. How could they ever get back to normal now?

"Adelaide?" The writer needed to talk to her voice of reason now.

_Yes, Sarah?_ The Regent seemed to try to sound innocent.

"Firstly: Thank you. We'll talk about this later." Sarah sighed. "Secondly, you were there that day, weren't you? What happens next?! Tell me you know."

Adelaide seemed to struggle. _Actually._ She said hesitantly. _Claudia sent Abigail and me away that day. After that delivery service showed up. Abigail had to put her signature on the forms from a very tall guy and then we went away. I spent some time with Abs in the car and we went for ice cream. I had the feeling there was an amazing adventure happening without me. But well, now I know it isn't really happening without me._

________________________________________________________

Hours later, Sarah was almost in Univille, when Paul spoke again. Three hours into the trip, Claudia had called them to mention that the delivery guys were now there. She would try to make them stay as long as possible to be able to look out for anything artifact-y.

_So I've downloaded all the data left from their computer._ Paul stated in a proud tone of voice. _But don't ask me how I did it. It was complicated and I don't want to talk about it._

Sarah smiled. "I knew you would manage that, Littlefoot."

_Thank you very much, Ferret._ He was quiet for a short moment in which she could hear him typing. _You wanted information on the employees?_

"Yes, everyone who could have been sitting in that truck and could now be in the B&B." The time traveler demanded.

_Okay, in spring 2014, there are pay checks for six persons. Well, Jake McKenzie and Tony McKenzie... I think those are the ones who run the service, judging from the name tag._

"Next one." Sarah shook her head. She knew it wasn't them and couldn't explain why. "Just read out the names."

_Ruth Thompson, Alan Irvin, Kurt Parker and Joa-_

Sarah stirred. "Kurt Parker!" She exclaimed. "I have the feeling to know that name."

_But why?_ Paul asked confusedly.

"Well, I have the feeling that I know that name already, but I cannot remember why. Since I don't have that eidetic memory." The writer shrugged.

_Hm, okay... So at least there aren't any paychecks anymore after March. It seems he quit._ Paul sounded like he was deeply in thought.

"Shortly after there was a delivery in Univille? Don't tell me that doesn't sound suspicious." Sarah grunted and forced herself to concentrate on the street. "Do research on him."

In her head, she tried to browse through her memory to find out where she already had heard this name. Why did she have the feeling to know that name?

A few minutes later, Paul let out a small _Oh._

"Yes, please?" Sarah asked interestedly.

_Well, it seems he has a criminal record. He is a techy, Sarah. Has done some smaller hacks to get money that doesn't belong to him before he started working at the delivery service. And he seemed to have done it to finance his drug addiction._ Her brother explained. _Been to jail for a short time, left for good conduct. No drugs after that._

"Ah! Drug addict. Seems he is the right one for having fun with an artifact that gives you random euphoria. What happened to him afterwards?" The girl demanded to know.

_Well it seems he couldn't really find a job due to his criminal record but then found this one at the delivery. After that, he seemed to have decided to not come back. There isn't even a letter of resignation in his record, he just didn't show up again._ Paul seemed to be at a loss.

"After that? Is there some information on him? Can't you google him or anything?" Sarah was desperate. She needed to know more about this guy and the reason she had the feeling she knew his name.

_No, nothing after 2014- Oh wait... Parker data corp. If it's him, he has founded a smaller data research and management company in 2024. You know, the real criminals who sell digital informations from ...oh... what was that sites name again?... Facebook?_ Paul sighed. _It seems he has made a little money with that. Not that he's rich... just well-off._

"So, after he disappeared for ten years, he suddenly founds a company that deals with selling data?" Sarah narrowed her eyes. "He'd probably been able to get proper information really quick."

_Information like?_ Her brother sounded confused.

"You really won't like this at all Paul. I have a really strange feeling." She took a deep breath to steady herself, rubbing her forehead. She still didn't feel that good. "What if... What if he knows something about the Warehouse? I mean... there must be a reason every last one of our family is in the Warehouse and they are all frozen in stone."

_Are you suggesting he's a Walter Sykes who is really mad about the fact that we have taken that artifact away from him and now wants it back?_ Paul sounded alarmed.

"Perhaps. Could you... do more research on him? Find out every small detail about him? Where is the headquarter of his company?"

_Washington._ Paul replied. _He seemed to have lived there for a while._

"Have lived?" His sister's eyebrows darted up. "So where does he live now?"

_The whole company moved to New York three years ago._ Paul typed aggressively into his keyboard.

"Find out more. I'm going to meet him in a few minutes." Sarah turned into the street in which the B&B stood. She parked the car in front of the building and looked out of the window. There was a white truck with 'McKenzie delivery' printed on it. The time traveller sighed. She looked at her belt to find the Tesla. Better take it out. One never knew what might happen. She turned off the car and left it without bothering to lock it. She also left the keys. If it would come to a car chase, this could give her some time. Sarah snorted. Okay, she was really thinking like a writer.

Clutching the stun gun tightly, she approached the house.

_Sarah?_ Paul suddenly said, causing her to freeze.

"Yes, Littlefoot?" She asked while trying to peek through the windows.

_There is another thing. We've been so occupied with all this, and before you go inside, you have to know that you have to hurry a bit._ Her brother replied.

"What's going on?" The time traveler tilted her head questioningly.

To her surprise, it was Julia who replied. _I only found out in the last half hour, Bells. There is a problem with the time machine and your brain._

"That doesn't sound frightening at all." Sarah smiled a little mischievously.

_I seems that you won't be able to be in this machine any longer than two hours. I don't know what it is, but your connection is decreasing. Probably one shouldn't be in there that long._ Julia seemed to be utterly interested in the medical process behind the time travel. But she also seemed to be a little angry about it.

"Paul?" The writer asked.

_She's right, Ferret. I don't know how long it will be exactly, but surely not much longer than two hours. I've tried a lot, but there isn't anything left to do._ Paul stated, sounding pitiful.

"Well, it's not like I didn't tell you so, right?" Sarah took a deep breath before placing her hand on the B&B's front door knob. She knew that this meant she was now close to finding the artifact


	20. Chapter 20

Carefully, Sarah opened the B&B's front door and spotted Claudia in the hall, talking to a taller man. The caretaker met the time traveler's gaze. Sarah pointed at her Tesla and mouthed 'danger'. In reaction, the redheads eyes widened and she went on speaking with the tall guy in the hall, apparently desperately trying to look casual.

"What does he look like?" Sarah hissed at Paul.

_Oh, I don't know. He has aged a lot, I've only found one picture of him where he's already around 50. I would say he has been brunet, short, maybe he had acne. He must have been 24 back then._ The writer could almost hear her brother shrug.

She concluded that the person Claudia was talking to couldn't be Kurt Parker, because he was blonde and tall.

Now, Sarah forced herself to stay calm. She was no detective or investigator. Only a writer. What would Susan, her protagonist detective, do in a case like this? Well, she would probably be reasonable as always and not walk straight with a gun to the suspect, but maybe flash her badge to ask him some questions.

So the time traveler lowered her Tesla and reached for Steve's badge - _ATF, not Secret Service_ \- instead. She heard a noise upstairs and again looked at Claudia. While still talking to the tall delivery guy, the caretaker showed her two fingers. Then she secretly pointed at the man right in front of herself so he couldn't see it and then only raised her thumb.

Sarah nodded. There was only one more person in the B&B. And considering that Claudia was looking up at the ceiling rather often while talking, Sarah concluded that he must be upstairs.

So the girl took the stairs and already heard a person working in one of the rooms, probably Myka's (Sarah wasn't sure. Her parents hadn't lived in the B&B during her lifetime, after all).

In the room, Sarah met a short, brunet and young man who seemed to struggle to arrange the mattress with all the shelves and the bed in the room.

"Kurt Parker?" Sarah carefully asked. The man froze, let go of the mattress and turned around.

"Yes?" He gave back, looking sheepishly over his glasses. But still, he had some kind of grin in his face. He was clearly... high.

________________________________________________________________________

A few minutes later, the suspect sat at the B&B's dinner table, looking awkwardly at his hands while Sarah gave him a thorough look. He also looked very nervous, but the writer couldn't find anything about him that caused her to worry. She just had the feeling that she knew his face. Claudia was standing right behind her. The tall guy she had been talking with was one of the McKenzie brothers. He had said he would wait for them in the living room.

"Well, Kurt." Sarah said in a serious tone of voice. "I do know you have a smaller stone. Something that maybe makes you happy or something like that. Something that makes you feel good. And well, there's something about it. You cannot keep it. It's dangerous."

_Good talk to a confused suspect._ Paul commented on her speech. _I'd have said the same._

"I don't have anything like this." Kurt replied, avoiding her eyes. Sarah was good in reading body language so she didn't even need Steve's skill find out that he wasn't telling the truth.

"Kurt." The time traveller sighed. "I really don't want to frisk you." She smiled as she spotted a necklace around his neck. "Maybe you could just... show me your necklace instead."

He winced and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "I want to talk to my lawyer."

Claudia took a step into his direction. "Listen, kid. We aren't here to arrest you or anything. There's something about that stone that can get really dangerous for you. We only want to help you. And then you're free to go wherever you want."

"That's it?" Kurt looked warily at her, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, that's it, Kurt." The caretaker assured him and smiled carefully.

"Okay." The man replied and took off his necklace. Sarah raised an eyebrow. That was it? Everything? One and a half day of time travel for this? Kurt reached out his hand with the necklace for her. The time traveller just stared at him, confused. Why was this so easy? There was something wrong! Something had to complicate these things.

"Steve, I think you should take the artifact, since you're...You know..." Claudia shrugged.

The other woman looked at her, surprised. "Alright." She replied, still pondering what she was missing. Carefully surveying every step she was doing, Sarah put on gloves and reached out her hand for the necklace. She opened her hand, so that Kurt could drop the artifact in it. Euphoria was an orange gem, Sarah tilted her head while watching it fall into her hand, followed by the necklace. She still had a strange feeling. She knew that guy, she really did.

The stone landed in her hand, its necklace still connected to Kurt's hand. For the part of a second, Sarah stirred. She wasn't sure if she had actually seen that small spark making its way from the stone up to the necklace. Had it been static energy?

Confused, she looked into Kurt's eyes, which had widened. He grinned like he was getting high again. There was something utterly creepy about his smile. Something disgusting. The way he now looked at her. Quickly, the writer pulled out a static bag and dropped the artifact into it. More sparks, all three people had to duck and cover and then the artifact was neutralised. Kurt looked at Sarah, the glisten of his eyes that had made him look high had disappeared. Now he looked a little unsettled, maybe he was struggling with his addiction.

The time traveller placed the artifact on the table.

"That's it, Paul?" She asked loudly.

_I don't know. You seem to have snagged the artifact. Congratulations!_ Her brother replied happily.

No, that couldn't be it. Why were her parents frozen in stone? Why had she lost the artifact again after this had happened? Why did she have the feeling to know Kurt?

Sarah looked at him again. The guy was young,... she pondered this. Maybe... maybe she had to try to imagine what he would look like older. What...

Her eyes widened. She quickly took a few steps back, breathing anxiously.

"Paul, can you maybe get access to Kurt Parker's bank account?" She asked, her voice shaking.

_What do you mean? Her brother asked confusedly._ He started typing.

"Can you?" She demanded to know emphatically.

_I'm already in._ He replied in his monotonous, but still confused tone of voice.

Claudia raised an eyebrow, approaching the time traveller. "What's going on?"

"Did he buy a bus ticket to Univille in the last days?" Sarah closed her eyes.

_What are you implying?_

"Did he?!" The writer now asked louder.

_Yes._ Paul replied. _Oh, hell!_

Sarah cursed and spun around to look at Claudia.

"My family is frozen in stone, they all were in the Warehouse at once. Why? They don't tend to be all there so easily. Somebody must have lured them there. Somebody who knows about the Warehouse. Who is good at finding information." She explained to the caretaker. "Paul, there is another thing!" She suddenly said, because it had come to her mind. "You said he is a techy! Tell me, Paul. You said you haven't had time to check if the device for the time machine drop is actually working properly. And it didn't. Where did you get that device from?"

_I was in Sioux Fall the evening before yesterday and got it from a guy I met on the internet. I worked on it with him._ Paul replied. _Stayed all night, came home in the morning. Been late. You got mad at me._

"Don't you think it's actually quite a coincidence that somebody suddenly has this device for you in 2044 exactly the day before I travel back in time to 2014?"

Paul was silent. He seemed to think.

"Somebody wants me to be here. To exactly find this artifact right now. Somebody wants that I am here, that I find the Euphoria artifact and meet Kurt Parker."

_Kurt Parker? Now that I think properly about it, it's telling me something as well._ She suddenly heard Julia's voice in her head. _Wait, isn't that the guy who sent you creepy fanmail?_

"I'm a writer." Sarah whispered surprisedly. "Three years ago, my book became successful. Three years ago, Kurt Parker's company moved to New York. Where I live. Somebody looked for me until they found me. I'm a successful writer. They had to find me to make sure that I'm here today, meeting Kurt." She looked up at Claudia. "It's a trap."

"Sarah Bering-Wells!" Claudia looked amusedly at her. "Well, at first: Wonderful Star Wars reference! But... don't you think you're overreacting a little bit? I mean, you're obviously your mothers' daughter, I get that now, the deduction skills are definitely working a little bit too-"

"I don't know, Claudia." Sarah shot a glimpse at Kurt Parker, who had carefully reached out a hand for the artifact bag. His hands was closing around it while he watched them warily. "All I know is that you just told the suspect my name."

Quickly, Sarah reached for her Tesla. She was fast, she was incredibly fast, but Sarah had problems aiming due to her usual body height difference to Steve. When she had figured it out, Kurt had already ducked under the table. The stun gun's flash didn't get him. The time traveller braced herself to fight him while she watched Claudia spinning around from the corner of her eye.

Parker jumped out of his hideout, quickly tackling the caretaker, who landed in the writer's arms. They struggled shortly with each other, Sarah almost fell over. The suspect ran, but instead of going outside, he ran upstairs.

"Why is he doing that?" Sarah asked loudly while trying to get rid of Claudia's body weight.

"Maybe he has actually forgotten something up there! I don't know, Sarah." The caretaker grunted.

Sarah straightened herself up, holding Steve's Tesla clutched tightly while approaching the stairs slowly. Suddenly, Claudia was gone. "Listen, dude." The time traveller heard her voice from upstairs. "I really don't know what you're now up to, but I have a gun and I can teleport and you had better not fight me."

And then, suddenly, the world broke apart in Sarah's mind. Paul had been quiet for some time to give Sarah the opportunity to think properly. But now he whispered:

_What kind of aura is this?_

There was some sort of rustling noise inside her head and then she heard a small _How did you get in...?_ From Paul, before there was the noise of a firing Tesla. Sarah had heard this particular noise so often, she could tell it was one. Julia screamed, surprised, and then there was the noise of something heavy falling down. A suffocated sob escaped Adelaide's throat. The writer heard everything, but couldn't do anything, because she currently sat completely motionless in the time machine. She was in the past, listening to the future breaking apart.

"Julia! Paul! Adelaide!" She yelled, on the middle of the staircase, paying attention to what was happening inside her head and not to what was happening around her. It had been a trap, everything that had happened this day she was experiencing now, it had already happened. It lead to the current events in the future.

"Dude, that's a knife." Sarah heard Claudia from upstairs. "Better be careful with that." There were suddenly fighting noises from their direction, the caretaker's grunts and yelps while she fought Kurt Parker. And there were still noises inside her head. Something heavy was shoved over the ground.

_Sarah._ Julia sobbed. _He has done something to Paul! Paul's unconscious!_

The time traveller only knew of one explanation for that: A Tesla. An intruder in the Warehouse - how had he managed to come inside? People had to get introduced... but Adelaide had introduced Julia this morning. There had always been this problem adjusting this small ceremony. Sarah cursed internally. He had a Tesla. Why did he have a Tesla?

_Better be quiet now, silly girl._ The girl heard a male, older voice in her head. _Or the same will happen to you. And you, lady, don't you dare move!_

Still being mesmerised by all the impressions she had to handle, the writer listened to the fighting noises from upstairs and to what was happening in her mind. Her view fell on her own hand, holding the stun gun clutched tightly. Everything that happened today has already happened, she realised again. Why did the intruder of the Warehouse in the future have a Tesla?

"Because I have one." Sarah whispered breathlessly.

There was a new noise from upstairs and suddenly, the time traveler faced Kurt Parker jumping down the stairs, right into her arms. He tackled her and both of them fell down the stairs. Sarah grunted, as she made forceful contact with the ground. She felt her shoulder crack loudly - pain flooding it immediately. Her hand opened automatically in reaction to the pain, letting go off the Tesla. Kurt had fallen onto her, and it seemed Steve's bulk had softened his fall. The man stood up, made a grab for the stun gun that lay on the ground and then ran away.

Sarah was still preoccupied with the agony in her shoulder. She stared up the stairs, trying to tell Steve's body how to breathe properly. Claudia appeared on the highest step of the stairs, holding her forearm. She bled.

"He took the door to the backyard. Are you alright?" The caretaker fretted. Sarah wasn't able to speak through the pain. Instead, her eyes widened.

"Better be following him by teleporting." Claudia nodded and then disappeared.

Sarah lay on the ground. It was quiet now inside her mind. There was only the noise of a chair being pulled back and somebody sitting down.

_Hello Sarah Bering-Wells._ An older Kurt Parker greeted her inside her head.


	21. Chapter 21

In Pierce, Myka was just about to start her SUV when her Farnsworth rang. She looked surprisedly at Helena, who sat right next to her in the front passenger seat and then reached behind herself to get her bag. At the fifth buzz, she had pulled the communication device out and then opened it to be met with Abigail's face. And Adelaide's right next to it. The former therapist looked a little worried.

"Abigail" Myka's eyebrows furrowed. "Is everything alright?"

"Actually, Myka. I don't know. Claudia showed up in the B&B around one and a half hours ago and sent me and Adelaide away. She didn't explain, just mumbled something about artifact and making sure that Adelaide here is safe." The keeper of the inn exchanged a look with the girl right next to her. Helena leaned over and reached for Myka's hand to pull the communication device closer so she could see them as well.

"Adelaide, is everything alright? Are you okay?" The Victorian asked, her sudden panic evident in her voice.

"Of course I am, Hel." Adelaide grinned. "Have you listened to Abigail? She said that Claudia sent us away before the strange artifact adventure started, okay? I'm totally safe with Abs. Even though I have the feeling there's an amazing adventure happening without me."

A breath of relief escaped from Helena's mouth. "Take good care of her. We're coming home."

"Yes." Abigail smiled softly at both of them. "The artifact hunt in New York. How did it go?"

Myka snorted. "Well. We snagged the artifact."

"And I can't help noticing that you're actually ignoring your mutual personal space again." The former therapist gave them a grin. "So can I assume that my order of king sized beds was a good decision?"

The curly haired woman's eyes widened. "Abigail!" She growled and lowered her gaze.

"Did the two of you finally talk or am I making you uncomfortable now?" The keeper of the Inn asked carefully.

"'Or?'" The curly haired woman asked indignantly.

"No..." Helena sighed and then looked at Myka from the side, a smile on her face. "No, we talked a lot."

"Aha!" Adelaide exclaimed. "Finally. This was overdue since forever."

"Exactly what I have been saying." Abigail agreed. They exchanged a fistbump. Myka wondered if they'd grown so close in only one day. Well, they were both people with whom one could get a long easily.

"And?" They now looked at the agents in anticipation.

"What 'and'?" Myka asked, confused.

"Did you get along?" Adelaide asked quickly.

"Has there been an exchange of romantic gestures?" Abigail grinned.

"Are you now a couple?" The girl's eyes widened.

"Will you perhaps only be needing one king sized bed?" The former therapist demanded to know.

"Are you going to marry?" Adelaide tilted her head.

"Should I consider sound proofing the B&B's walls?" Abigail held her hands over the girl's ears.

"Oh, god." Helena sighed. "Claudia has created monsters by setting those two up with each other."

Myka grinned at HG. "We can work together on punishing her for that."

"That's an excellent idea, Agent Bering." Helena smiled and then reached for the Farnsworth to close it.

"So you are together?" Abigail managed before Helena and Myka's lips met and the Victorian's hand snapped the communication device shut in the same moment.

Pulling apart again, the younger woman opened it again. "I'm going to call Claudia to check if she's alright."

Helena bowed her head in response. "How's your strange feeling of having to go home quickly?" Myka asked and the Victorian shook her head. "Still the same."

The Farnsworth buzzed and buzzed, but no one took the call. Myka tried it once again and then decided to call Steve. Who didn't reply either. She looked at the writer.

"Now, I'm feeling like I have to go home quickly, too." She whispered.

_________________________________________________________________

Claudia teleported directly into the forest behind the B&B and listened for foot steps. Somebody was running, she could hear it. That Kurt Parker guy was surely confused and nervous, he was probably also high on his artifact so he didn't know what to do. The caretaker's arm hurt a lot. The damn drug addict criminal had waved around his knife while she had attacted him. She had found a long cut where he had grazed her. Claudia rolled her eyes while walking into the direction of the loud foot steps. She hadn't been really happy to see her own blood. It wasn't like she'd collapse but i could be that she was a little dizzy. Sadly, there was no caretaker update for that. But hey! There were others!

The redhead looked up to the sky, finding Hugin and Munin flying in circles above the forest. She grinned and gave them signal to show her where that damn criminal currently was. Hugin seemed to fall out of the sky, nose diving directly towards a figure crouching in the woods.

"Ha!" Claudia exclaimed happily and teleported towards Kurt. Quickly, she took the neutralisation bag out of his hand, making sure to get him by surprise. But she didn't. Actually, the criminal made a quick move with his hand and the last thing Claudia saw was the big wooden stick flying towards her face. Then only pain and blackness.

_________________________________________________________________

Kurt was confused, utterly confused. He just wanted to run away and to be safe with his stone that made him feel good. He couldn't concentrate that well. He knew that this was also the stone. But, well he had been clever to hit this creepy teleporting girl with this stick. Now she couldn't teleport again, could she? Was she ... out of order? Kurt didn't know. Instead, he locked at that strange steampunky weapon in his hand. He couldn't tell properly, but it looked like some electrocution device. Well, that couldn't make anything worse, right? He pointed the stun gun at the redhead lying in front of him and then pulled the trigger. A big lightening escaped the muzzle and then hit that young woman. She shook under the electrocution and Kurt smiled. That was pretty cool, actually.

Suddenly, Kurt heard footsteps and he winced, unsure about what to do. Well, at first he had to get that artifact and then find that Sarah Bering-Wells person that he needed to find. There was something important about it, he knew that.

But before he could kneel down for the purple bag that redhead was holding in her hand, a loud screech cut through the silence of the forest and those black birds again fell out of the sky and attacked him. He ran. That was the worst trip he had ever had.

_________________________________________________________

Sarah grunted weakly in reaction to the voice she had heard. It had been Kurt, she was sure. While waiting for another word from him, she tried to get up. First, she made attempt to move her shoulder, but that was only rewarded with pain from Steve's body. She was afraid that Parker would do something to her friends and brother. She had to know what was going on. Had to keep him busy. Anything. It seemed he wanted to have his artifact back and she was the only one who would know where it was, if this bout of time travel was going where she thought it was.

_Are you not going to greet me back?_ Kurt asked. _I can hear you over the loudspeaker. Everthing is as it should be._

"How did you managed it to get into the Warehouse?" Sarah forced out, still trying to get up. Steve's shoulder was probably dislocated or something comparable had happened to it.

_Illusions. The help of a Regent and a unimportant medicine student. Managed to sneak in here along with them when they were coming for your help when my little device wasn't doing what it was supposed to do._ Kurt giggled. It was an unpleasant, high-pitched sound, almost childlike. It gave Sarah the screaming heebie-jeebies. She could hear Adelaide gasp and couldn't do anything about it, because she was motionless in her time machine, completely helpless. She could only hope he wouldn't do anything to any of them.

"What do you want from us? Your artifact back? Are you some cheap version of Walter Sykes that comes here to get his artifact back?" Sarah finally managed to get up. "Because that won't work. Nobody here knows where it is. You ran outside with it."

_It seems you're forgetting who is in charge, Sarah Bering-Wells. Oh...that name. That name. Has always been in my head since back then. What an absolutely breathtaking name..._

"You're disgusting!" Sarah exclaimed and reached for Steve's shoulder. Yes, that arm didn't feel at all like it should feel.

_Listen to you. So angry... so full of fire. I immediately understood that it wasn't you in that body. That there must have been somebody different. The stone told me, Sarah. The stone told me. Didn't you seen my face when we both touched it? There was something... utterly... delightful when you touched it, wasn't it?_ The man whispered breathlessly.

"If you want your artifact, then I'll have to tell you that I don't know where it is!" Sarah yelled, getting angry now. This person freaked her out completely. She couldn't handle listening to him.

_Well, maybe you'll have to go looking for it, little writer. Pretty little writer._ It was like he was singing a song in her head, with his creepy half-whispering voice.

"What makes you think I would do that for you?" The time traveler replied. "I won't do anythi-"

_Well isn't it your family who is standing upstairs, completely frozen in stone, Sarah Bering-Wells? I have figured everything out. Everything out. Took me quite long. 24 years, actually. Took me even longer to find you. But, well, it's a good thing you got famous. And... oh...isn't this your little girlfriend who has my gun against her head right now?_

Parker giggled maniacally.

"Julia?" Sarah asked, panicking. She was rewarded only with a choking noise from the medicine student. "Don't you do anything to her, Kurt! This is only about m-"

_Well, I guess you should better start running now, Sarah Bering-Wells. Lovely little writer, person in the past._ Kurt whispered in his high-pitched singsong voice. _Better be running by now. Find the artifact, little writer. Find it quickly._

Sarah reached for her belt only to realize that there wasn't a gun, nor a Tesla. Claudia had the gun and Kurt Parker had the stun gun. Weakly putting one foot in front of the other, the time traveller started running. Kurt Parker was in the future because she had allowed him to go there. She was responsible for him threatening his family and friends. She was sure of it. Everything that happened on this day had already happened and Sarah was the cause. She couldn't believe it. It had happened again.

Suddenly, she stopped. No, she would do this differently. It wasn't hopeless. She was having an effect on this past, even if it had to be subtle. Maybe she could trick him. Maybe she could really find the artifact for him but then manipulate him. She'd always been good at manipulation. If only there wasn't his creepy, childish voice inside her head.

Outside, Sarah quickened her pace. She had to find Claudia. She had to help the caretaker to find this monster they had created.


	22. Chapter 22

Sarah stumbled through the forest, feeling worse by the minute. Her shoulder was aching like hell and for a few minutes now, there was this dizziness worrying her. Paul had told her she didn't have much time left to handle this. She would wake up in her own time very soon. And she was clearly looking forward to meeting Kurt there to show him what she thought of him.

There were fresh footprints in the muddy ground in the forest. Sarah decided to follow them quickly. Stumbling over a branch, she almost fell but managed to keep herself on her feet in the last second. Ripping the fabric of Steve's shirt on another big branch, Sarah found Claudia lying on the ground.

The caretaker was bleeding from her arm and forehead. Somebody had hit her. Quickly, the time traveller crouched next her to check her pulse, shooting nervous glimpses at everything around them. The redhead's heart was strong, beating a little irregularly, like on somebody who just got Tesla'd. Well, that might actually be the truth, couldn't it? Sarah sighed. Maybe she had found the explanation for the caretaker's memory loss in the future.

With shaking hands, the girl reached for the static bag and the gun from Claudia's hand. She needed a place to hide the stone so nobody would find it. So Kurt Parker couldn't get it. She had to trick him into believing she was hiding it for him. Instead she needed a little time, time to find his younger version, time to get out of the machine and be able to fight him.

Everything that happened this day has already happened. The ink in which their lives are inscribed is indelible. It was her mother's rule. Not Kurt Parker's. It was her home, not Kurt Parker's.

Sarah needed Adelaide...

"I have the stone." Sarah mentioned. "I will bring it to the little well down in the forest to drop it inside it. How about that? It's just... isn't that a good deal? The well is dry so nothing can happen to it. And you can get it and keep it."

 _You are bringing it to a well?_ Kurt asked. _Good, good._

"You should go there and get it, Kurt. It's my little message to you, isn't it?" Sarah tried to find his weak spot. There had to be something. He was in control of her family and friends. She had to find a way to get him away from them. "Like you once sent me a message, right? A fanmail, hoping I'd reply. I probably never did, Kurt? I'm sorry."

 _You should be._ The criminal in her head replied indignantly.

It was only a short walk, not much. She could manage it, even with her shoulder hurting like hell and her head spinning.

A twig broke somewhere in the forest. It had been quiet but Sarah had clearly heard it. She just hoped Parker in the future hadn't heard it. The time traveler looked up to the sky, finding Hugin and Munin flying circles over the point where she thought she'd heard the breaking branch. Sarah grinned. This was her damn Warehouse. Why did he think this was only his game? It was also hers. And clearly, the Warehouse was working for the writer.

Taking a deep breath, Sarah ignored the pain in Steve's shoulder and started running. It was hard, that shoulder felt like it was about to combust, but she didn't care. She didn't care at all. She had to do this. She ran and ran for minutes through the trees. And then she found the well. Quickly, she approached it and dropped the artifact bag into it.

"There it is!" Sarah growled. "It's in the bloody well. Now go look for it."

The criminal inside her head giggled again. _Regent._ He hissed. _Regent Adelaide_ \- Sarah grinned - _who is responsible for whatever is caused from now on by this person - should go. There is nobody you could get, is there? Just some other weak, old Regents and children. All the agents are made of stone. I have made sure of that. Tricked them all into getting into the Warehouse. Took care of the ravens, illusions, damn illusions. This coat allowed me to follow this Regent and your little friend into the Warehouse. The invisible man. Ha!... good book. Your mother wrote it, right? Your mother is HG Wells, I found that out. I found out everything. Everything about you._

Julia whimpered, still sounding suffocated.

_I know everything. I know everything about you, little writer. Regent! You should better go. Get that artifact. Get it!_

_Sarah._ Adelaide seemed to be conflicted.

"Do what he says, Adelaide. We will handle this." The writer clenched her jaw. "Think about the children." She really hoped Adelaide understood what Sarah was trying to tell her.

Sarah looked at the ravens in the sky again. Kurt seemed to have manipulated them in the future, he seemed to have noticed here that they were following him on purpose. So he could do something to confuse them in the future, so Claudia didn't know about the stone. But now, right now in the past, they were working for Sarah. It was the Warehouse helping her. Maybe she could change this situation. Maybe she could do something with their help. She had travelled through time with a damn watch to keep her mother from dying! She had manipulated time itself, for crying out loud! There had to be something she could do. Even if she could only prepare something to make him vunerable in the future.

There was still the gun in her hand. Swallowing thickly, Sarah looked at it.

She had to distract him.

"If Adelaide goes to get you the artifact, Kurt, why are you still threatening my friend? Isn't the artifact what you wanted? What you needed? Isn't your obsession with it satisfied? Let them go!" Sarah pleaded. Something... she had to get him to listen to her so she could make a plan.

 _Oh, Sarah Bering-Wells. Do you really think I'm here only for that artifact? For a tiny stone?!_ Parker giggled maniacally again. _Thirty years of research for a stone? Ten years of hiding from Claudia Donovan - who was really annoying by the way. For a tiny stone? You're underestimating me._

"So what do you want to do then? Blow up the Warehouse? Trust me, you're not the first one to have that idea! And it never worked!" Sarah huffed and started walking. She headed in the direction of the ravens.

_No. No. Why should I care for this house? Why should I care for those tiny things in it? If there is something else, little writer. Somebody else. Haven't you seen it, Sarah Bering-Wells? Haven't you felt it? When we both touched that necklace. It's destiny. It's obsession. It's you._

The time traveller coughed. "What was that?"

 _We were supposed to meet, Sarah Bering-Wells. We had to meet. The artifact told me. It told me! We are destined for each other! Like your Susan and Matthew..._ And suddenly, Sarah became nauseous. She knew why he was here. He had written her creepy fanmail. He hadn't been looking only for his artifact. He had been looking for her. Stalking her. She was a successful writer, that's why he'd found her.

_Maybe it was just the stone at first, right. But over the years... In those 30 years, I understood that, yes, indeed, I need that stone. But only as much as I need you, Sarah Bering-Wells. I cannot live without both..._

He was her goddamn stalker because he had felt some sort of euphoria when they both touched the artifact. And his poor drugged brain had made a connection between the name he'd heard in Claudia's and the writer's discussion to this feeling he had gotten back then.

He was obsessed with Sarah. She knew why she had had the feeling that she knew that guy at the bus station. It had been him. He had moved to New York for her, right after her book had become successful, stalking her without her knowledge after she had become a little famous. He had found her because of her book.

He could easily get at information because that had become his job - and by now he had found out everything about her. Because he had had thirty years to do it in. And now he was here to make sure she'd meet him. He was here to find the artifact and to find her. To get both.

She asked herself where he was sitting in the future. Next to her? Close to her? Was he maybe touching her? Was he touching Julia? Sarah shook her head and tried to shove that thought out of her head. She had to concentrate.

She had to stop him. She really had to stop him! Automatically, she started running, ignoring the agony in Steve's shoulder. She had to find him. To talk him out of this. He was threatening her friend, for crying out loud!

After she had run a while, she heard another branch breaking next to her. The younger Kurt Parker broke through the undergrowth like a steer with mad cow disease and pointed the Tesla at her. Quickly, she lifted her gun, her lower lip quivering in reaction to the pain from Steve's body.

Gunpoint. Damn it. Sarah hated it.

The drug addict breathed heavily. His eyes were glistening with madness. His coat was wrinkled and ripped, apparently by raven claws.

"Stone, Sarah Bering-Wells!" He demanded quickly.

"Trust me, Kurt." Sarah stated calmly. "You really don't want to point a gun at me."

There was this high, childish giggle inside her head again. _Don't you think I know where this is going, my little writer? Do you think I don't know what you're planning? I've been there, Sarah Bering-Wells. I know what happened. This is my game and I'm winning._

Sarah eyed the Tesla in front of her. It was one of the ones that didn't recharge that well. She let out a sigh of relief. If Kurt had Tesla'd Claudia with it on its highest setting in the last few minutes, then... he probably couldn't do it to her now. The time traveller grinned.

"Kurt." She whispered. "This isn't going where you think it's gonna go."

 _I was there, lovely writer. Look at me. Look at me standing right in front of you. We're made for each other, Sarah, we are. I will now try to shoot you. And because you are you, you will hesitate to shoot me back._ The criminal in her head explained. The younger Kurt pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He looked confused. Sarah stared at him, motionless, mesmerised by the voice in her head.

 _Then I'll turn around and run away. The good thing is that you're fast, little writer._ Sarah watched the man in front of her turn and take big steps away from her. She immediately followed him, running as well.

 _That's where you grip my arm,_ Sarah Bering-Wells in the time machine.

Sarah reached out Steve's healthy arm and his hand closed around Parker's wrist.

 _But you forgot I have a knife._ The man inside her head gave another creepy little giggle. The time traveler's eyes widened when she watched Kurt stumble a bit while pulling out the mentioned object from his pocket. The swift blade cut through air and through the flesh of Steve's arm.

 _See how I marked you?_ The voice in her head asked. Sarah groaned in pain, stumbled and fell. She could watch Kurt running away, feeling numbed by the agony in Steve's arm again.

The writer looked at Steve's forearm, watching the blood gush from the wound. She squeezed her eyes shut and looked up again. Parker was running towards the B&B and she had to get him. So she got up, started running again, fighting the dizziness in her head that told her she didn't have much time anymore. Telling her she had to run and find out where he was going, she had to try to stop him. Change something about this situation. She was an expert on time travel for crying out loud! She had to shoot him! Shoot him so he couldn't do anything worse.

At the B&B Sarah heard somebody starting Steve's Prius. Kurt was stealing the car. He was stealing Steve's damn car because she had left the keys in it. When the time traveller made it to the front yard, she was just in time to see Parker drive away quickly. He was a damn coward! She lifted her gun and pointed it at the car. She couldn't aim properly while he was driving so fast. The writer cursed loudly and then spun around.

Quickly, she approached the delivery truck. The McKenzie brother seemed to be gone getting some coffee or something. Sarah opened the door of his truck, feeling the pain in both her arms. And of course the keys weren't there! She grunted and sat down on the driver's seat.

"Damn it, Paul!" She cursed. "Where are you when I need you? I'm a writer, not a techy."

She couldn't get this car started by tinkering with it. But Sarah was good at finding things, she understood how people thought. Maybe there was a spare key somewhere. First, she looked under the car's floor mat. And grinned.

The truck started with a loud roar.

 _Are you trying to follow me, Sarah Bering-Wells?_ Kurt asked and giggled for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Shut up." She hissed at him and drove the car down the street, cumbersomely controlling it with only one arm - blood running down from it and dripping all over the floor and Steve's clothes. She had to follow Kurt. She had to get him, to shoot him, to weaken him. She had to change something for crying out loud! Hitting the gas pedal hard, Sarah drove through Univille as fast as she could. She shook her head when she felt the dizziness increase.

 _Not now._ She thought. _Not now._ She was driving. She had to find Kurt. It was her mother's damn time machine. Not his rules! Her eyes blinked repeatedly when Sarah again shook her head.

And then suddenly, there was the tree.

________________________________________________________________________

Myka felt Helena's hand grip onto her thigh. She wanted to smile, but then she realized that the Victorian was utterly terrified. Quickly, she looked at her lover, finding her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed.

"Can't you drive faster?" HG asked, her voice trembling.

"Of course." Myka gave back, getting more and more confused by the minute. Something was off with Claudia and Steve, that much she was certain of. But the curly-haired woman couldn't explain why Helena seemed to be feeling such a strong connection to them that she seemed to get vibes. Or something like that.

Suddenly, there was Steve's Prius right in front of them. Myka had to swerve to avoid crashing into the other car. She furrowed her eyebrows. That hadn't looked much like Steve behind the steering wheel.

"Did you see that?" Helena asked, turning her head to look through the back window.

"That wasn't Steve!" Myka exclaimed.

"No, you're right." HG furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Should we turn around and follow the Prius?" The younger agent looked at the writer.

"Myka, watch out!" The Victorian's grip onto her thigh tightened.

A big white truck approached them, driving in dangerously close to the edge of the road.

"Oh my god, that's Steve!" Helena yelled. The truck swerved as well, slowed and then crashed into one of the trees at the roadside.

Quickly, Myka hit the brakes, spinning the car to a sliding stop, and jumped out of it, closely followed by Helena. "Steve!" The Victorian yelled. The truck was wrecked, but - thank goodness! - Steve was alive. He struggled, climbing out of the driver's seat and then dropped to the ground. Myka quickly approached him and tried to help him up. Her friend was breathing heavily, he waved his gun around in front of him. There was something wrong with his shoulder, his other arm had a fresh cut and he had a wound on his forehead.

"Steve, what's going on?" Myka asked, horrified. HG's partner waved his gun again and grunted. Trying to exchange a look with Helena, the curly haired woman found the Victorian looking at him with her eyebrows furrowed and her head tilted slightly. She seemed to regard her partner thoroughly.

"Listen! Listen!" Steve pleaded, looking to the upper left. "You can do with me what you want. I will do it. It's okay. But let Julia go! Let Julia and Paul go. I love them. They are my family. Oh god, I need her."

HG's eyes widened during Jinks' speech. Her mouth opened, then closed and then opened for a second time. "You're not Steve." She whispered, sounding extremely astonished.

"What?" Myka looked at her, surprised.

The Victorian blinked, leaning in closer. "I know you!" She quietly said, looking at Steve like she was seeing somebody else. "I've seen you in my dreams."

Steve turned his head towards her, blinking slowly at her, like he just now recognised who was standing in front of him. "I need help." He whispered, his voice throaty. Myka heard a loud flapping noise. She turned her head and spotted one of the big black ravens landing on a tree, where it sat and glared at Helena. Munin, maybe?

Helena touched Jinks' hand, took it into hers and looked into her partner's eyes, mesmerised. Slowly, she reached her other hand out to touch the man's cheek. "I remember you."

Myka didn't know what to say. This almost looked a little ridiculous, how Helena's index finger seemed to trace a line on Steve's cheek only the Victorian could see.

"That scar..." The Brit mumbled, causing Myka to cock an eyebrow at her. Was HG now having hallu-

"Sarah!" Helena yelled, all of a sudden, sounding horrified. "Oh god! Sarah!"

The younger agent gasped. "What?" She grunted, eyeing the man she was holding in her arms. This was Steve. This was _Steve!_ Why was Helena talking about Sarah even though she had said that she didn't want to know-

"Oh god, I remember you, Sarah." HG repeated. "You were in Boone that day."

Jinks clung onto the fabric of her coat to pull her close. "Time machine." He breathed. "Firstly... Claudia... Claudia is in the forest. She's injured and she will need a physician. Steve's shoulder is probably dislocated or broken or something. His head hurts like hell. Get them to a hospital."

The curly-haired woman's mouth hung wide open. What did this mean? She looked at Helena, who looked pale, but simply nodded in reaction to her partner's words. Like she understood what he was saying.

"The artifact." Steve continued, his voice breaking. "The artifact is in... it's in..."

And with this, the man lost his consciousness and sagged to his knees. Myka struggled to hold him. She just followed him down, holding his head so he wouldn't hit it on the ground. With her eyes wide, Myka stared at Helena, who looked like she just had had one of the biggest revelations in her life.


	23. Chapter 23

"Hell, that hurts!" Claudia whined and tried to reach for her forehead, but Helena slapped her hand away. The caretaker's other one was resting in her lap, bandaged. "Don't touch it, Claudia."

They were in the hospital in Pierce. Myka had had the idea to call Mrs. Frederic when they found Claudia unconscious in the forest. The former caretaker had sent an emergency helicopter to bring them to the town which usually would take two hours to reach from Univille, HG had kept them company, while Myka had followed them by car. A helicopter ride had been incredibly interesting for the Victorian, apart from the fact that her friends had been injured.

Now, the writer sat between Claudia's and Steve's beds in their shared room. Somebody had allowed them a room together, probably because the redhead had been demanding it since she had woken up in the helicopter.

Helena was really asking herself what the caretaker and... the girl had been facing. The stranger who had stolen Steve's car was gone and they hadn't found him yet.

"I feel like somebody hit me with something big!" Claudia groaned and reached out for the bandage on her head again. HG again slapped her hand away another time. "Claudia!"

"Agent Wells, I'm capable of deciding if I want to touch my forehead or not!" The caretaker ranted at her. The writer glared at her, eyes narrowed. "Don't pull the caretaker card on me, Claudia. Currently, you're just a girl with an injury in a hospital bed."

The redhead groaned. "I really want to know what happened."

Steve who lay in the other bed sighed. "Don't we all?" His shoulder had been dislocated and now he had to keep his arm in a sling. This was in addition to the bandage on his other arm and the one on his forehead.

"This memory loss is unsettling."

"I know." Helena replied. "But it comes with the time travel." Pursing her lips, she shook her head. She still hadn't adjusted to the sudden wave of memory that had come over her when she had faced Steve, whose body had been inhabited by her future daughter. HG had remembered Sarah the moment she had seen that scar on his face that hadn't actually been there. And then those green eyes... She had remembered the day in Boone that had never happened. It was linked to Myka's time travel, the watch the girl had used to try to rescue her mother. Everything in which the Victorian had been involved that day had come back to her mind, including the information about the future the older Myka and Sarah had given Helena back then. The kiss she had shared with the younger agent that day... HG squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn't what she wanted to know. And she wanted to be able to explore whatever future was waiting for her on her own. And now...

Myka and Helena had been quiet with each other while they had waited for the helicopter to bring their friends into the hospital. But the Victorian needed to talk with her love when they would finally have the chance.

"Tell me, Claudia." Steve grunted. "What do you remember?"

"Well, the last thing I know is... doing artifact research with you all night. I think I might have fallen asleep in my chair." Claudia admitted.

"Well, yes, we both fell asleep over the research. We woke up the next morning and cleaned up Artie's office. I was sweeping up crumbs and then... everything's gone." Steve shrugged and then groaned loudly, grabbing his dislocated shoulder with his good arm.

"Well, your memory loss is connected to the fact that somebody took over your body with my time machine." Helena pointed out quietly. "While Claudia has a bad head injury and has been shot with a Tesla that was turned up too high... apparently. It seems that the person who was... in Steve's body worked together with Claudia. We talked when Myka and I were in New York and it seems you two did artifact research."

"Gosh." Claudia scrunched her nose at HG's words. "I wish I could remember. Who was this time traveller?"

Wringing her hands, the Victorian looked into her eyes. "Sarah." She whispered.

Claudia looked shocked. "You mean... that kid from the future?"

The other woman offered her a small nod. Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"She exists?" The caretaker's jaw dropped.

"I don't know!" Helena struggled for words. Because currently, Sarah's existence was something she had no mind for. Even though her mind was demanding to know if she was well and successful fighting whatever she would be facing in the future.

"Wait, you know who she is?" Claudia's eyebrows furrowed and she regarded the Victorian carefully. HG took a deep breath and looked at her.

"The moment we found Jinksy- " Helena looked at her partner, who frowned at her, "and I looked into his eyes... it was like I saw a scar on his face... in this moment I remembered the watch, the undone day in Boone... and yes... Sarah. I recognised her." She murmured, dropping her gaze to the ground. Steve looked utterly confused at this, but Claudia just nodded in understanding. Jinksy hadn't complained about his shoulder or his injuries. He seemed to be too tired or confused about this. But he had been looking as if he had a lot to process ever since he had woken up.

"Have you talked to Myka?" The caretaker asked excitedly.

"About that? Not yet."

"But about other things?" Claudia cautiously breached the topic. It seemed she was struggling to keep an innocent tone of voice. The Victorian looked up at her.

"Perhaps." She smirked.

"Aha!" The caretaker sat up in bed quickly and pointed her finger at her. Then she groaned and fell back on her pillow. "Aha!" She whispered weakly. "What did you talk about?"

"We were together on artifact hunt for one and a half days, Claudia. There was a lot." The artificer's eyes darted to the door. In the hall, Myka was busy with her telephone.

"Was there kissing and making out?" Claudia demanded to know.

Steve groaned: "Claudia! That's none of your business!" HG waved her hand in dismissal of his words.

"Perhaps." She answered the girl's question.

The door opened, admitting Abigail and Adelaide into the room. The former therapist looked concernedly at the caretaker and the agent in the beds before greeting them. Meanwhile, Adelaide jumped through the room into Helena's arms. "Agent Bering looks furious with her telephone, maybe you should walk outside and kiss her to calm her down." She suggested while hugging the Victorian. Claudia again jolted upright in bed. "Aha!" Again, this action seemed to be rewarded with pain, which made her fall back on her pillow for another time, groaning.

"So this means you are a couple?" She whispered weakly.

"We have agreed on using that term, yes." The Victorian bowed her head at Claudia and absent-mindedly carressed Adelaide's blonde hair.

"Good, then you just have to figure this sudden attack of memories out and then you should make out with each other a little bit more." Claudia pointed out.

"Not your business, Claudia!" Steve warned.

"I'm the caretaker of this house of madness and everyone inside it, Steve. Of course it is my business. The well-being of every agent is my business and Myka and Helena have to be well with each other a lot!" The caretaker gave back. Abigail giggled quietly. "I thought it was my job to-"

The door opened once again and Myka walked inside. She put her mobile phone away and huffed.

"Okay: Good news and bad news. What do you want first?" She looked at Claudia and Steve.

"Bad news?" Steve suggested.

"Well, the guy that stole your car is completely gone. Vanished. I talked to the guy who runs the delivery service because I thought that they might have a connection and he just demanded to talk to his lawyer." Myka pursed her lips. "And he was very rude. Maybe because his truck is a wreck now. I don't think we'll be getting much information from him. He seems to be covering for whoever was involved in this."

"And the good news?" Claudia looked disappointed. Myka smiled weakly in reaction.

"Well, the good news is for Steve. The police found the Prius."

"Yes!" Steve cheered but then again held his shoulder in pain.

"Empty," Myka added, "with no trace of the person who stole it. It's clean. There aren't even any finger prints left."

"Crap!" Claudia exclaimed. "No step nearer to the resolution about what happened."

"Well," Abigail shrugged. "If it needs somebody to travel back in time to solve it..."

Helena closed her eyes and slightly shook her head. Opening them again, she met Myka's gaze.

"Can we maybe talk in private?" The other agent asked carefully. HG nodded and rose from her chair.

_______________________________________________________

Myka knew what the words she had heard from Helena meant. The fact that Steve had mentioned a time machine and that Helena had adressed him as "Sarah" left only one conclusion. But it was still incredibly different to understand the fact that Sarah had travelled through time again and to see Helena actually adress Steve as her future daughter. The American couldn't explain what this meant at all.

"Okay." Myka closed the door of Steve's and Claudia's hospital room behind them. She looked carefully at Helena. "What happened? I... it's confusing that you suddenly adressed Steve as Sarah. Somebody you didn't want to talk about."

"Apparently." HG sighed and paused for a brief moment. "Apparently, this girl travelled back in time to hunt an artifact."

"And how do you know that?" The younger agent didn't understand. It all had happened so suddenly and then they had had to bring Steve and Claudia to the hospital. Myka and Helena had had no time to have a clear talk about this.

"Because I remember the day in Boone." Helena replied weakly and looked up into her eyes. The American just gaped at her in reaction to this revelation.

"When I looked into Steve's eyes - Steve, who was inhabited by ...her - and touched her scar... I mean ... I saw that scar and her eyes even though they weren't really there. And in that moment I remembered everything. Look, I've reacted so strangely to touching your scar. ...it's hard to explain Myka." The writer raked her hand through her hair, looking frustrated.

Myka nodded in reaction, then she closed the gap between them to take her into her arms. Carefully, she kissed the inventor's temple. Then, she looked down into her glistening brown eyes. "Try." She whispered. "I will listen, no matter how strange it sounds. Everything connected to this time travel thing sounds strange, doesn't it?"

"Well, judging from everything I now know about that day... I'd say there is a connection between the watch and us... I don't know. Your future version... god, that sounds so peculiar to say... your future version behaved curiously in reaction to facing the watch the girl brought back then. And I didn't feel well myself. Dizzy, nauseous. Like back in the shower." She offered Myka a shy smile. "And maybe this combination of seeing your scar and ...Sarah in our time caused me to react that strangely, to help her face whatever she was fighting." Now, Helena looked up into the younger woman's eyes. "I haven't been completely honest with you and I'm sorry."

Myka slightly frowned but then shook her head. "What do you mean?"

"My dreams. I told you about my nightmares. Christina, you, and Adelaide are in them? Well, I remained silent who else I was seeing in them. Since Boone, there has been another person showing up in my dreams." Helena whispered, her eyes slowly filling with tears. "Sarah." Her gaze dropped to the ground.

"You mean that you maybe subconsciously remembered her after the events in Boone? ...which never really happened?" Myka summarised. She reached out her hand to gently cup Helena's cheek, making the Victorian wince. She didn't want to let this be a problem between them. Neither of them was responsible for what that damn watch was doing in their lives. It was just happening and they couldn't change it.

"I couldn't explain it to myself, because I'd never seen her face. Which is actually true. I've never seen her face and still I do remember it. That's just odd. She's my daughter even though she doesn't exist. I care for her even though I've never met her and I don't know if I ever will, Myka!" Helena's voice got louder. "It's... I'm not ready to face anything that leads to her existence and still I do care about her. I have to know if she's alright! I gnaws at me. Did you listen to her words? She was fighting something, somebody... I don't know. It sounded like she was talking to somebody only she could hear. What if something bad happens to her in the future? I cannot start worrying for her considering the fact that she simply doesn't exist." Helena escaped the younger woman's arms. "That's... I don't know how to deal with this."

Myka surveyed HG from behind. The Victorian had turned away from her. She shivered and the younger woman couldn't help but want to comfort her. This really wasn't what she had imagined would happen. How could Helena recover properly from the loss of Christina, while worrying about somebody who didn't exist? Maybe would never exist? Myka had promised to herself that she wanted to have a future with Helena, a future where they could be comfortable with each other and not lose their heads about responsibilities like children... so soon. A future in which Helena could recover from her loss. And this situation clearly wasn't helping the Victorian with her recovery. Carefully, the American reached out a hand and placed it on the older woman's shoulder.

"Helena, I want to help you." She whispered.

"I don't know if you can, Myka. I don't know if there even is something that needs help. It's just so confusing." Helena replied and turned around to face her. "I wish I could just know if she's alright."

"Maybe." Mrs. Frederic suddenly said next to them. Both agents jumped; a small yelp escaped from Myka's lips. "I can help you out with that."

"Mrs. Frederic!" The curly haired woman grunted. "Are you still able to teleport? I thought now that Claudia annoys us with that, you cannot..." She paused.

"No." Irene replied and firmly surveyed HG. "I'm just a very quiet walker."


	24. Chapter 24

2044

Sarah's eyes snapped open. Automatically, she reached out her hands, as though she tried to fight off somebody who wasn't there. There was no reaction from anyone, so the time traveller decided it was best to try hiding first. She dropped herself out of the chair, away from the side where the locker's door was and where Paul's screens were.

There was still no reaction, so Sarah peeked over the time machine's chair to find the rest of the room empty. Kurt Parker was nowhere in sight. Neither was Julia.

Paul's lifeless body was leaned against the locker's wall. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing rhythmically. Sarah stared at him while ripping off the devices from her head and carefully pulling a needle out of her arm - apparently Julia had tried to give her some fluids. Sarah knew she shouldn't get rid off that but she needed to have her arms free. The time machine beeped quietly in reaction to the loss of contact to Sarah. The writer was alarmed, she quickly reached towards one of the computers connected to it and ripped out some cables.

Now, the machine was completely quiet. The girl sighed in relief.

Then, she crawled over to Paul, looking around nervously. It was too quiet for her taste. God knew were Kurt was now. Probably, he was looking for Adelaide and the gem. Or he just wanted to jump out from somewhere in surprise.

Sarah anxiously eyed the locker's door while she checked her brother's pulse. He had gotten a major shock, the Tesla seemed to have been adjusted on one of the higher settings. But he was alive.

Sarah decided to find Kurt. She had to find him. To fight him. He had threatened her family, her friend. He was still in the Warehouse... This time, there was an intruder in the Warehouse she could fight. The girl took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Fine." She quietly spoke. "I know I've barely been here in the last three years and you're probably mad at me for that. I know there's something between us we don't talk about. But now, I need your help, like you tried to help me with the ravens in the past."

She could feel the Warehouse. Her connection to it. It was concerned, wanted to help.

"Show me." The writer closed her eyes. "Where did he go?"

There was this scent. This strong scent of apples reaching out for her. Sarah had followed this scent so often, being led and guided by this entity. When her parents thought she had gotten lost in the Warehouse.

"Thank you." The girl breathed. And then rose from her crouching position to sneak out of the locker. The aisle was empty, Kurt was nowhere in sight. Right or left? Sarah looked in both directions, sensing the scent of apples becoming stronger on the left sight. She smiled and followed the Warehouse's lead, jogging down the aisle. Quickly, she turned right at a crossroad. At the end of the path she had chosen, Sarah spotted two figures, one slightly taller than the other one. One of them held something to the other's head while they walked.

"Parker!" The writer yelled and watched them spin around. At a hurried pace, she approached Kurt and Julia. The older man still was still threatening the medicine student with a gun, holding a Tesla in his other hand. Sarah surveyed them quickly while getting closer, looking for a way to free Julia from him. Parker was crazy, he was obsessed with Sarah. This could be a chance for her.

"Why are you leaving so early?" Sarah demanded to know and showed him a bright grin while still approaching them. "We aren't finished, are we?"

Kurt chuckled. "You were passed out for a few minutes and that wasn't funny. So I decided to get my artifact so I could show you after you'd woken back up." He replied calmly. Julia next to him sweated profusely, Sarah could watch the drops on her forehead running downwards. The medicine student whimpered when he pressed the gun firmly against her temple.

In front of them, the writer stopped. "Well, Parker, you told me you were so fond of me... and now you don't even want to greet me when we're finally able to meet in person?" Sarah smiled. She could hear the buzz of the Warehouse's static energy above their heads.

"You're cheeky." Parker narrowed his eyes at her. "Cheeky little girl."

"Well, I am here now. Isn't that what you wanted?" She tilted her head. "Here I am. In all my glory. And you decided to walk away? I'm disappointed."

The man still looked the same as back then, he had just aged. Grey hair, still the same glasses, blemished skin.

"You're wonderful." He gave back in a low voice, his eyes slowly wandering up her body. Sarah pursed her lips to suppress her sudden nausea. "But... we aren't ready. Right, my little writer? We need the artifact so everything will be perfect." He sighed. "It'll be so perfect."

Julia whimpered when he again forced her to turn around. The Warehouse was angry, but Sarah shook her head. "Not yet." She whispered.

"Kurt." Sarah rose her voice again. "Do you think I'll let you go? You came to my house. To my house, Kurt. And now you want to leave before knowing my secret?"

Kurt froze. "Secret?" He asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Well, there is so much you know about me. You did so well. So much research. And now you're missing my secret. There is something about me you don't know." She grinned, because she knew he had taken the bait.

"Cannot be. I know everything about you. Everything. I'm good at knowing things." Parker hissed, sounding angry.

"Well, then it seems you failed, Kurt. I'm disappointed. Because it's really important information." The time traveller took a few steps back in anticipation of what would happen.

Slowly, the man turned around, forcing Julia to follow him. "Tell me, Sarah Bering-Wells." He whispered.

Sarah looked into Julia's eyes and tilted her head slightly to the right. With tears in her eyes, the blonde nodded almost imperceptibly. "Well, now Kurt... now... You won't know." The writer looked up to the ceiling. "Because this is my damn house!" She yelled and then jumped aside.

The lightning thundered down into the aisle with a force that threw Sarah backwards, lifting her off her feet. Sparks emerged through the shelves, artifacts fell out of it with a loud rattling noise. Then it was quiet for a short time.

"Julia! Run!" Sarah shouted and got back on her feet. She saw the medicine student jump up and run away into the next aisle, while Kurt lay on his back and struggled to get up, rising his gun first. He pulled the trigger. The bang of a bullet hitting a shelf right next to her caused the writer's eyes to widen in shock. Sarah backed up carefully, turning away from him and disappeared into the next aisle.

"SARAH BERING-WELLS!" Kurt screamed in anger and frustration. She had made him angry, but the writer didn't care. She had helped Julia to run away from him. This was Sarah's house. This was her house, she was in charge. She could fight him!

The time traveller heard another shot and the wood of the shelf right next to her splintered. Parker was in such a rage that he was using his gun on her now. "You won't get my secret if you kill me, Kurt!" She yelled over her shoulder, turning into another aisle.

"Then stop running, little writer, and I won't have to!" He gave back, with one of those by-now-faliliar high-pitched giggles. Sarah took another bend, flipping over a smaller shelf, dislodging a dodgeball. Quickly, she ran down the aisle and then hid behind an armchair. There, she watched her stalker facing the ball flying at him. He grunted as the ball hit him in the gut, multiplying after contact. Now he stared at two balls and groaned.

"Artifacts!" He exclaimed. "You're trying to fight me with them. Silly tiny things, little writer, and so petty. I will..." He rose his weapon and fired at one of the balls which burst into a big explosion of sparks. Then he did the same with the other one. The intruder of the Warehouse looked up. "So where are you now, Sarah Bering-Wells? You cannot hide forever. I found you once, I will find you again." And there it was again, that damned giggle of his.

The writer looked up at the shelf next to her, finding an old microphone and smiled. She quickly took it and held it in front of her mouth.

"I'm everywhere." She whispered and heard her voice coming from all sides of the Warehouse. "In front of you, behind you, next to you. Catch me if you can."

She stood up and ran away, out of his sight, still talking into the microphone. "There is so much you know about me, right, Kurt?" The time traveller grinned, making her way through the aisles. "But it's not enough. You don't know everything. You can never know everything, Kurt. And it bugs you, it gnaws at you..."

Sarah tackled a shelf and watched the mirror ball from Studio 54 falling out of it. She ran on, taking side steps. As the ball hit the ground, music and flickering lights started filling the entire warehouse. This should confuse him even more.

"Argh!" She heard his voice over the music. "Are you trying to play hide and seek with me, my little writer? I'm very good at seek."

"Well", she spoke into the microphone, "Then you should feel challenged. I come from a family that is very good at hide."

She looked up and recognised the copy of the B&B a short distance away. Maybe she could trap him inside of it.

"Well, you changed the rules by adding artifacts." He yelled, close. He was close to her. But she needed him close to trap him in that house.

"Family habit! My house, my rules!" Sarah gave back, heading down the aisle.

"Then I will play by your rules." Kurt shouted with another chlildish giggle and suddenly there was a small earth quake that shook Sarah until she fell. The microphone slipped out of the time traveller's hand and rolled underneath the nearest shelf. Sarah cursed loudly. Her jeans were ripped at both knees and she could feel that her skin was bruised. That damn walking stick!

The writer jolted up again, back on her feet and spun around to find him walking right towards her, holding an ancient looking warhammer. "Your rules." He spat at her and struck out. The writer ducked quickly. She took a step towards his side, punching him in the ribcage.

Parker gasped for air, tumbling sideways against a shelf. He seemed to have put his gun in his pocket to be able to handle the warhammer properly. It fell out now and slid across the floor.

Sarah's eyes widened, facing the gun. She took a quick step in its direction: she needed it. She needed to be armed against him.

Suddenly something heavy hit her. It was Kurt, who had tackled her. The time traveler fell down on her hands and knees and felt his foot making forceful contact with her stomach. The air was pushed out of her lungs and she couldn't hold herself up on her arms anymore, breaking down. Weakly, she turned around to face him, trying to prop herself up on her shaking elbows, failing badly.

The stalker just grinned, swinging the hammer in his hands. "You shouldn't run any longer, Sarah Bering-Wells." He proclaimed and the held the warhammer above his head.

A quick strike and Sarah was screaming from the top of her lungs. She felt the bones in her right calf break, twisting, the pain unbearable. He had broken her leg. Sarah fell back weakly, still screaming because she couldn't help herself. She had felt pain in her life. She had seen her mother die again and again. But this was different, this was physical pain: numbing her senses, creeping up her limb, forcing the scream out of her mouth.

"You're grounded!" Kurt proclaimed and grinned. He held the hammer over his head for another strike. Sarah's eyes widened in fear.

But then, somebody hit the man from the side. It was Julia, tackling him. "Let her go, you..." Was everything the writer heard through her own helpless grunts and groans.

Parker tumbled through the aisle, dropping the hammer. He was confused and distracted, but it didn't seem like the medicine student had thought this through. Quickly, Kurt shook the short woman off, going for her arm. He pulled her close, shielding himself with her, his arm wrapped around her neck.

"You do always forget I have the knife." He hissed into her ear and then reached for his pocket.

Through her pain, through the blinding tears running down her cheeks, Sarah stared at him threatening her best friend with a knife. She had to help her! Quickly, the writer propped herself up. She looked over her shoulder, finding the gun still lying a few metres behind her. She had to reach it.

"There won't be another strike of lightning, Sarah Bering-Wells." Kurt purred. "I'm prepared. I'm prepared for it. Another lightning strike and I will cut her throat. You can't jump away from the lightning. I've grounded you. I've figured everything out."

The time traveler shifted her own body a little bit backwards, in the direction of the gun. She nodded and decided talking to him to keep him busy, trying to ignore the agony in her leg, and failing. "Yes, Kurt. You've figured everything out. You found the Warehouse, you've found me. You're a smartass."

"I _am_ smart." Parker grinned. "Everything. I know everything about you, Sarah Bering-Wells."

"But Kurt." Sarah replied, staring at him while her hand groped for the gun. "There's still my secret. The thing you don't know because you cannot know. There is something you cannot know about me. Because you never witnessed it. In all those years you've been searching for me. Not even back in 2014."

"What?" Kurt shook his head slightly, the blade of his knife inching closer to Julia's throat. The medicine student whimpered quietly.

"It's something you cannot know because I've never done it in your presence. Because I refused to do it, Kurt. Because I hate it." Sarah's fingertips made contact with the gun. She shifted a little further. "But it's an important fact about me." Her fingers curled around the gun's grip.

And by finding the object she was reaching for, Sarah was reminded of the day that had never happened. The day she had pointed a gun at her own mother.

"What is it? Speak to me, little writer. Or your friend will die." Kurt hissed.

Sarah looked at his face. Her friend's head was covering its lower left. Sarah looked at them, judging the amount of space. She could see that grin on his face vanish as she quickly lifted the gun. "I'm not only really fast, Kurt..." She yelled angrily, pointing the gun at him.

"I'm also extremely good at aiming."

And then she pulled the trigger. The bullet emerged from the gun with a loud bang which hurt Sarah's ears. It hit him in the face, right between his eyebrows. A small yelp escaped Julia's throat. The stalker's grip loosened around her as his body fell to the ground. The medicine student jumped away from him, breathing heavily.

Sarah's head fell back and she dropped the gun. The pain in her leg flooded her mind. Nausea hit her and she felt dizzy. She was exhausted.

"Julia, are you alright?" The writer mumbled weakly. She heard the blonde approach her. "Sarah!" Julia whispered while hastily kneeling down next to her. "Your leg!"

The writer looked at her friend, directly into the other woman's blue eyes. "You will have to wake Paul" She panted. "Slap him until he wakes up. Or something. Or look for a Farnsworth to call Adelaide. I will not... I can't...get up... I... maybe..."

The medicine student nodded. She carefully caressed the time traveller's forehead, brushing the other woman's sweat-dampened curls out of her face. "Close your eyes, Sarah." She murmured fondly. "I know it hurts like hell. Close your eyes and think about something nice. I'm taking care of you. I got you. And faster than you know, you're in the hospital and everything is fine."

Sarah's eyes slid closed of their own volition. She was so tired. The pain flooded her mind, the dizziness increased... and then everything went black.


	25. Chapter 25

The bed Sarah woke up in was soft and warm. But that wasn't what drew a sigh from the girl; it was the weight of two warm bodies that were pressed against hers, on each of her sides and a third one down at her feet. She smiled and shifted a little, noticing that her right leg felt heavier than usual.

"Ah! She's waking up. Good morning." Sarah heard her mom's voice from her right side. Myka sounded relieved.

"Finally. I thought we would have to keep sitting in this rather small bed all day staring at her." Her other mother said in a smug tone of voice. Helena sounded particularly sarcastic.

"Four Bering-Wells' in a single bed clearly exceeds its capacity." Paul murmured from the end of the bed.

The girl opened her eyes, finding herself in a hospital bed. And she had been right: Myka was sitting to her right, Helena to her left and Paul at her feet. Looking around herself, Sarah noticed her right leg being in a big plaster cast.

"You're here." She whispered, looking at her parents. They both smiled fondly at her, and Helena pulled her into a tight hug immediately. It was funny seeing them now, after the time travel. Back then they'd been so young. And now the hair around Helena's temples showed only a few grey strands, the rest of it was still black as the night, but there were wrinkles around her eyes and and mouth. Myka's curls were almost completely grey and wearing glasses was now a daily task, but it didn't look bad on her. Well, they looked like Sarah's moms.

"Of course we're here, darling." HG smiled and cupped her chin. "Due to your wonderful work. Both your wonderful work." She added and looked at Paul, who weakly waved his hand.

"How grounded is he?" Sarah asked, looking at Myka.

"Extremely." Her momma replied, which caused Paul to groan. "Two months, to be specific." Myka nodded in agreement. "From now on."

"Mom!" Sarah's brother grunted. "I'm almost twenty."

"Which still leaves you a minor. Living with us." His younger mother replied.

"Momma! That's worse than that time I blew up the B&B!" He whined.

"Well, it is worse than that time you blew up the B&B." Helena agreed. "If you'd asked for my help when you built it, it would have gone better, wouldn't it. I knew exactly what you were building, Paul." She sighed. "But that didn't keep me from taking Parker's bait."

"But Claudia..." Paul ducked his head.

"Is your aunt and agrees." Myka looked seriously at him.

"Ferret, I'm gonna kill you." Paul's eyes darted to his sister.

"Wow, Paul." His sister tilted her head. "That was in pretty bad taste considering you almost did!"

"I agree." Helena grinned. "But well, Sarah, if you would still live with us, we would ground you as well."

"Good thing you have to stay at the hospital for a while." Myka shrugged but then looked at her daughter's leg, frowning. "If he wasn't already dead, I would... I really... God, I'm so angry!"

"Shhh, darling." HG reached out a hand to caress her wife's shoulder. "She's here with us and she's well."

"So, you know what happened?" Her daughter looked quickly at Myka and her.

"Well, Claudia installed a recording program to the time machine." Her mom shrugged. "That means, yes, after we listened to the both of you, we know everything. You were passed out for almost two days. It seems you needed a lot of sleep."

"Ugh."

"You both did well. Still, you're grounded." Myka looked at Paul.

"What happened after... I passed out?" Sarah asked interestedly.

Paul smiled at her. "Well, first I woke up to Julia slapping me like I'd done something wrong. Then Adelaide and Mrs. Lattimer rushed into the Warehouse, yelling and waving Teslas like they were going to war. Just to find out you already had. So, then, after that little disappointment, they called an ambulance for you. While Julia and I kept you company on your way to the hospital, they both found the Euphoria stone in the well and combined them with all the other stones and then they... yeah, freed everybody. They have been talking about how they saved everyone for days now, Sarah. And that's basically it before we had to start cleaning up after you."

"How is Julia?" His sister asked quickly, ignoring her parents' raised eyebrows.

"She's fine." Myka replied with a smug smile. "Claudia is talking to her right now."

"Good." Tiredly, Sarah closed her eyes again.

"Darling?" Helena carefully asked.

"Yes, momma?" The girl didn't look at her.

"In the past... when I listened to you... you sounded rather fond of her." The Victorian admitted.

"Well, I am rather fond of her, momma, she's my best friend." Sarah opened her eyes and looked at her. "Are you implying you two always thought she and I should become a couple as fast as possible because you heard me talk about love in 2014?"

"...maybe." Myka replied and avoided her gaze.

"Moms?!" Sarah squeaked.

"We really like her. We've been talking to her a lot. She's quite a catch, and now she knows about the Warehouse and..." Her other mother spoke quickly.

Sarah sighed deeply, rolling her eyes hard. "Of course she's quite a catch, momma. Her boyfriend would absolutely agree with that."

"She has a boyfriend?" HG raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Well, she never mentioned him when we talked."

"Momma!"

"I remember someone who used to have a boyfriend." Myka grinned, winking at Helena.

"Moms?" The girl said again, now with more emphasis. "I'm going to say this once and then we will never talk about this again. So, please, listen carefully. Julia is my best friend. Of course I am fond of her, because she's my best friend. And even if-" Sarah rolled her eyes in reaction to Helena's climbing single eyebrow "IF there was something between us that might be more than friendship, do you know whose business that would be?"

Myka bit her lip while Sarah glared at both of them. The girl took a deep breath. "Not yours!"

Her mothers looked at each other. "Those three years have changed her completely." Helena grinned.

"That's probably just the pain meds talking." Myka replied. They both rose from the bed.

"Don't walk away! You both know I'd follow you if I could! That bloody leg!" Sarah ranted.

"Yes, darling, it's okay." Helena grinned, heading for the door.

"You won't talk to her about this!" Her daughter added.

"Of course not!" Her mom nodded and she and her wife started laughing loudly. The girl leaned back against her pillow and rubbed her cheek. The one with the scar. She sighed and her face softened. Just before her parents could open the door, the girl looked at them again. "Moms?"

They both froze and turned around. "Yes?" Myka asked.

"Can we maybe... talk..." Sarah struggled for words. "Sometime soon, not right now... but... could we talk about the time travel incident?"

Her older mother smiled softly at her while nodding. "Which one?" She asked carefully.

Sarah blinked and then replied: "Both, actually."

Helena's face showed relief. "I'm glad you finally made this decision. Of course we can. As soon as you're ready."

Sarah nodded, lowering her gaze to the floor.

"Sarah?" HG raised her voice again.

Her daughter quickly looked back up. Her mother had sounded a little bit nervous, which confused the girl. She found Myka carefully placing a hand on her wife's shoulder.

"Yes?" Sarah blinked in confusion.

"Thank you." Helena whispered, her eyes were suddenly glistening. "For everything."

While Sarah pondered what she could have meant exactly, the couple slowly left the room.

After her parents had closed the door behind themselves to give Paul and Sarah some time to talk with each other, the boy nodded. "Wow, was that an attempt to start actual communication about issues between the three of you? I mean momma totally ruined it in the end by being cryptic, but..."

His sister rolled her eyes.

"I've been looking at the three of you struggling with that for about nineteen years now, Sarah. It's not like you don't communicate. But as soon it's about feelings or issues, it becomes awkward. You're so much alike." He murmured.

"And you are better at that?" She glared at him.

"Well, I've watched you a lot and figured out that communication is a rather important part of being a family. Not saying that you don't do it... it's just that you struggle with it." Her brother admitted. "It's like you're all waiting for the right time. But you can't spend forever waiting for the right moment, Sarah. Sometimes you have to talk about things as soon as you're able to do it."

"I'm talking to the boy who is keeping the teeny-tiny secret that he wants to become a Warehouse agent, because he's afraid his mother - who has been an agent for most of her lifetime - might think it would be dangerous." Sarah shook her head.

"Yeah, okay, that's an argument." He replied, and also rolled his eyes.

"I think they would be alright with it, if you would only tell them, Littlefoot." His sister grinned.

"Well, let's make a deal then, accident." Paul smiled carefully at her. "I'm going to tell them that I don't want to become an engineer even though I seem to be perfect for that and you'll talk to Julia."

"About what?" Sarah's eyes widened, her gaze dropping to the ground.

"The Warehouse?" He suggested after a brief pause. "I know you didn't want us to make her your one, but now she's got a lot of information and I think there are some things she should better hear from you than from us."

Sarah looked at her injured leg. "...okay."

"That's all?" He blinked for a few times in reaction. "No backtalk or doubts?"

She shrugged and then shook her head. "She's important."

Carefully surveying her with this slight grin he always had when reading her aura, he offered her a smile. "Okay."

"So... the leg." Sarah pursed her lips.

"Bone basically smashed. Julia and your physician talked about following surgery and physiotherapy." He placed his hand on the plaster. "Pete already wanted to draw some silly things on it, but we could keep him from doing that."

"So that means no baseball with him anymore?" She concluded.

"He's disappointed." Paul pursed his lips.

"Well." Sarah rubbed her forehead. "I'm a writer, Paul. I don't need a perfectly working leg for that."

Her brother shook his head. "Well, it's a pity you can't run. Pete and Claudia already suggested they want to start a 'Back to the Future' marathon with you."

She dropped herself back into her pillow. "Oh, no."

________________________________________________________________________

"Knock. Knock." Claudia said, knocking on the door of Sarah's hospital room and then entered slowly.

"Claudia!" The girl placed her journal on the nightstand and looked up at her.

"How are you?" The caretaker quickly approached the bed to hug her.

"Injured." Sarah replied, pointing at her leg.

"Ugh." Her aunt scrunched up her nose in disapproval while taking seat in the chair next to the writer's bed. "Julia told me about it. It's gonna be a long road to recovery."

"Well, the doctor said I will need two surgeries to ...I don't know. He mentioned the word 'titanium' a lot and I only understood half of what he was saying." Sarah waved her hand in disapproval but then looked directly at the caretaker. "You talked to Julia?"

"Yeah, me and some Regents." Claudia replied sheepishly.

"Regents?" Sarah's eyebrows furrowed. "Why suddenly Regents? I've never witnessed Regents wanting to talk to somebody's one, unless the person messed up." The younger woman blinked confusedly.

"Well... there is an interesting point about your best friend." Claudia scratched her forehead. "You know... since Vanessa retired all those years ago, we're kind of missing a physician who works for Warehouse 13 on a regular basis. None of those replacements we had stayed any longer than a few months. It's like in Harry Potter with the Defense Against The Dark Arts."

"Are you suggesting that the position is jinxed?" Sarah tilted her head in confusion.

"I'm always certain you'll get a Harry Potter reference." The caretaker smiled fondly. "Yeah, maybe. Well, since we now have a future physician who knows about us, why not ask if she'd maybe want to join the club in general?" Claudia shrugged.

"So you're implying she will do Dr. Calder's job in the future?" The writer tried.

"Well, she was excited when we offered to pay all her student loans. So... yes, if everything goes right, she's gonna do that." Claudia's eyebrows furrowed. "I hope you're okay with that. It means she doesn't have to be your one if you don't want to. Since Adelaide didn't allow you a chance to object to that, we though it might be a good idea."

"Hm..." Sarah carefully rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't know. I think I could agree on both. We'll see."

The caretaker grinned in reaction. "Good! Sounds like Warehouse 13: Next next generation."

Sarah laughed. "You're the most serious caretaker this facility will ever witness."

Claudia clutched her chest. "Come on!" She shouted after faking a heart attack. "You don't want to imply that you have to be an emotionless person for this job. Even Mrs. Frederic had a lot of humour, we just didn't get it back then."

"Yeah, some of her jokes took us a little longer." Sarah nodded profusely.

The older woman smiled, but this time sheepishly. "So, I've listened to all the data from the time machine. I've done a lot of research on Kurt Parker. And for some reason, I was able to get more information on him now. I tried hard to find out what happened after the incident in the past. But nothing really made sense to me. And I truly believe Kurt erased most of the data about him just to put it back about a few weeks ago so you would meet him in the past." The caretaker sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't get that any sooner, Ferret. That was just... disgusting. And I'm sorry it had to happen."

Claudia looked carefully at the time traveler. "If I had known what kind of monster we were creating, I would have never sent you back there." She took a deep breath. "If there would be any way to undo i-"

"No." Sarah interrupted her.

"Hm?" The caretaker's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"We won't 'undo' things anymore." The writer stated strictly. "Ever again. Things happen and we have to deal with the consequences. We make mistakes and we can't change anything about it and that's how this world works, Claudia. I've travelled through time twice, it's a rather compelling way of dealing with things, but it doesn't change anything."

"Oh." Claudia made, narrowing her eyes at her.

"Look" Sarah's eyes darted through the room, as if they were searching for words. "There was a watch... and I changed my mothers' past with it. I still struggle with that. But the truth is... it only led to this." The writer pointed at her leg. "It led to the fact that the universe needed to find another way for them. There's a theory about time paradoxes that says that the universe would never allow a real one. That it'll never allow me changing my parents' future so much that I won't exist. We have to accept that I have messed with time and that it wasn't okay. But in the end... it only led to this broken leg. And the scar on my face. And that's it."

The caretaker watched her carefully, her face betraying a hint of pride. "Well, Ferret, that's a very long reaction speech considering the fact that I only wanted to say that I'm sorry for letting you create your own disgusting stalker."

Sarah blinked for a few moments, confused. "Yeah... but it worked out well in the end. For me. Not for Kurt Parker." She sighed. "I killed him, Claudia."

The caretaker nodded, her eyebrows furrowed a little bit. She was watching Sarah carefully and the writer saw that there was something in the redhead's eyes. Something she had seen far too often in her life but never mentioned. Sometimes, Claudia looked at her as though she was afraid. "I killed him, Claudia." The younger woman sighed again. "Killing somebody. That's nothing I ever want to do again. I wasn't made for killing people."

"Made...?" Claudia seemed to be a little at a loss, but Sarah knew better.

"I know about what Mrs. Frederic said that day... before I was born. Do you really think my parents would raise me without mentioning it?" Sarah grinned a little, but there was bitterness in her eyes. "'The one who will know, and the one who will see herself.'" She quoted the former caretaker. "Claudia, please tell me I'm not the one who is made to see people die."

The caretaker looked utterly thunderstruck at her, her whole body frozen. "I still don't know what this... it meant that Mrs. Frederic said that day. I don't know, yet, Sarah. But I will do everything to finally understand and help you. You will not be the one to kill people or see them die." She inched closer. "Sarah, I saw you growing up and you are a good and wonderful person. So, there's nothing to be worried about."

The girl watched her carefully and then nodded. "Then, everything worked out well in the end. And it only caused a broken leg and a scar."

She could see Claudia struggling a litte with this sudden change of topic. Sarah wasn't sure what to do. Claudia had definitely talked to Leena about this. But as much as Mrs. Frederic loved to be the personified mystery, Leena enjoyed it in equal measure. And at this moment, the writer didn't want to care about that part of her life. She was done. Done time travelling, done having people talk in riddles to her. Done worrying. She only wanted to write a little and wait for her leg to be healed enough so she could get back to Univille.

After a short moment of silence, Claudia nodded slightly. "We all kept our scars." The caretaker rolled up her sleeve to show the time traveler the skin where Kurt had hit her with the knife. "I seem to finally have an explanation for that."

"Oh." Sarah replied and eyed the scar.

"But as it is, I doubt it's the end of this part of the story." Claudia smiled and rose from her chair.

"What are you implying?" The time traveler asked, horrified, when the redhead headed for the door.

"Well." The caretaker grinned enigmatically. "That there is one piece of the puzzle left. You know that there is one last thing to do, right? We both know that time works differently for the Warehouse." With that, Claudia left through the door.

"Ah, come on, Claudia! Sometimes you're exactly like Mrs. Frederic! Stop!" Sarah's eyes widened. "... Wait!... _Mrs. Frederic!"_ Sarah jolted upright in bed to reach for her crutches. She limped through her hospital room to look into the hall. But it was completely empty.


	26. Chapter 26

There was a knock on the door. Sarah looked up from her journal to find Julia smiling shyly at her. "Oh, Jules!" The writer sat up and put her journal on the night stand. "I didn't know you were coming. Paul was going to pick me up in about two hours."

The blonde offered her a quick grin. "Well, he said since he's still grounded, he cannot pick you up from hospital and he also asked me to give you a message. I quote:" The medicine student looked up to the ceiling, holding her index finger upwards like she was about to say something important. "I've kept my part of the deal. Now it's on you, accident.'"

"Oh." Sarah looked at her, her face completely blank. "Well." Nervously, she ran her fingertips over the back of her neck, her eyes darting aimlessly through the room. "Then... well, then you'll pick me up. The doctor already discharged me, but I haven't packed yet. I thought I could use the time I'd spend waiting for my brother to write a little."

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise. She took a step closer to the dark-haired girl. "You're writing the next part? That's fantastic. I'm excited to find out how it's going to work out with Susan and her vampire crush."

The time traveller cocked an eyebrow at her, causing Julia to shrug.

"Or not crush. Your decision." The medicine student held up her hands in defense and took a step back again. "So, you can pack and I'll just wait here for you to finish." Julia suggested, flinging herself into the wheelchair they had to use to bring Sarah out of the hospital. The writer would use her crutches from that point on, but well,... hospital rules.

"Or I could help you?" Julia offered when Sarah opened that bag she had already set up on her bed. The time traveller looked up at her and then shook her head no. "I will do that on my own."

"Then I'll just watch?" The blonde shrugged again. She looked a little lost.

"Or..." Sarah began, slowly taking her journal from the night stand. She eyed it nervously. "You could check on my notes and see if you agree on where I'm going with the plot. While I'm packing."

Jule's simply gaped at her at that offer. "You'd... you'd let me read it? Before it's finished?"

The writer just nodded and held her book out for the other woman. "With pleasure. I'm very interested in your opinion."

Quickly, the blonde reached out her hand and grasped the journal. "I'm gonna take advantage of that offer before you change your mind again like-..." She paused and bit her lip to look up briefly into the other woman's eyes. "Uhm... that..." She whispered weakly while she awkwardly lowered her gaze to the ground.

Sarah swallowed thickly. "Just read it. It's okay." Then, the dark haired woman turned away to fold her night shirts and sweat pants neatly into her bag. She heard Julia flipping through the pages while she was working. Sarah hadn't written much, but she had decided that there was a certain direction she wanted to go with her novel's characters. And maybe, her friend would like it.

When the writer closed her bag's zipper a few minutes later, Julia looked up at her with her eyes sparkling, grinning the brightest grin Sarah had ever seen on her. Well except for that infamous party night after Sarah's first time travel.

"And?" The dark-haired girl asked in anticipation.

Julia took a deep breath. "Wow. 'Kissing Janet, Susan realised that this was one of the things she had wished for most in her life.'? I'm... wow. Finally!"

The other woman blinked. "So you like it?"

"Of course I like it, Bells. That was what I was asking for. Janet! And not that damn Matthew guy." The medicine student nodded profusely. "Thank you." She whispered, her eyes meeting Sarah's for a fraction of a second.

"Good. I'm glad you like it. Now I only have to tell my publisher." Sarah shrugged, feeling rather awkward. "And I don't know how to do that yet."

"It's a wonderful ending." Julia admitted and closed the journal.

The other woman looked briefly at her and then smiled. "It's not an ending. I think it's more like a beginning."

The student's eyebrows darted up. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's gonna be a longer series, right?" Sarah winked and then held up her bag. "I'm done packing, we can... well, obviously not go, but get out of here."

The blonde stood up from the chair and handed the journal back to her friend, who stood up cumbersomely and flopped herself into the wheelchair. The writer felt Julia's eyes on herself and looked up to her. "Is everything alright?" She asked carefully.

The medicine student licked her lips, and her eyes darted away. Then she took a deep breath. "Will we ever talk?" She inquired quietly.

Sarah's eyes widened, then she lowered her gaze to the ground. "About what?" She murmured hastily. There was a brief pause before Julia replied:

"About the Warehouse. I mean... I know a lot now. But I really want to talk to you about that."

The time traveler looked at her best friend carefully; then she nodded. "Well, we have about two hours to do that in while we're in the car, don't we?" She smirked, while placing her bag on her lap and opening it to store her journal away.

Julia grinned and rested her hands one the handles of the wheelchair. "Well, then... let's take advantage of the fact that you suddenly seem to be very communicative today." She began, causing Sarah to turn in the chair and glare at her indignantly. "What? It doesn't happen that often." Julia shrugged while turning the wheelchair around.

Sarah wanted to reply something, but Julia had already pushed her out of the hospital room and started talking.

"First question: Why exactly does Paul keep calling you 'accident'?" The medicine student demanded to know. The question made her friend shrug before she responded: "For the same reason he calls me 'Ferret' and 'kettle kid'."

"U-huh." Jules nodded profusely in faux-comprehence. "And that means what?"

"Well, there was an accident with an artifact once which led to my mother's pregnancy..." Sarah tried to put the circumstances about her conception into words.

"Let me just guess on that... when you say that you and Paul only share 50 percent of your genetic material, then you imply...?" The blonde asked innocently.

"That I'm a hundred percent made by both my mothers, while he had a sperm donor." Sarah finished her sentence.

"So you're not only H.G. Wells' - who is a woman by the way - daughter, you are also the biological child of two women?" Julia concluded with her eyes widened.

"Indeed."

The medicine student seemed to ponder this. "I'd really like to take a DNA sample."

_____________________________________________________________________

Sarah was leaning on her crutches with her eyes closed in the middle of Artie's office. She was alone, waiting for something. She had been at home for a few days, knowing that what she had to do could wait until she found the time for it.

The Warehouse family had thrown her a big 'Welcome home' party, of course. They had said they'd already planned on doing that when she'd come home back then, but yeah, they all had been turned into stone. Kurt had lured them into the Warehouse one by one or in pairs by making them believe she was in danger. Of course he had also had the help of an artifact for that. Claudia had been busy over the last weeks, taking apart his company. She'd found out that he had hoarded artifacts.

But now, this wasn't Sarah's problem anymore. It was the Warehouse agents'. The writer had only one last thing to do and then, ...well, yes, then she could go back home. Currently, she wasn't sure if this meant New York or Univille, because actually, the girl wanted both.

Sarah's eyes remained shut: she waited. For the Warehouse. She knew it had already noticed that she was asking a silent question, but currently it was unsure how to react. After all, this entity had always been rather careful in having direct communication with her.

Sarah hoped her silent 'Let me in' would reach the building that had created her but never told her why.

And then, the girl felt it, she felt how time stopped around her and how her body suddenly felt lighter than before. How her leg stopped feeling broken.

Sarah opened her eyes and saw the Warehouse with the eyes of its caretaker. She knew that this connection between them wasn't normal, it was incredibly special and nobody could explain it. Claudia had always tried, because she could sense that Sarah was a part of the Warehouse. But Sarah's connection to the Warehouse was so different from the caretaker's. The Warehouse seemed to consider the writer as something like its daughter. While Claudia was its companion. And maybe Sarah was about to find out what it meant in particular... Well, it wasn't like the she didn't already have a theory.

Now, Sarah left her body behind, walking out of it, no need for her crutches anymore. There was nobody in the office, so Sarah decided to spend some time walking through the Warehouse while waiting for somebody to join her. She actually walked quite a long time until she suddenly - in a certain aisle - heard an old and grumpy voice behind herself. "I already told you the first time you showed up here, and I'm going to tell you again: It's not your time."

The time traveller smiled a bitter-sweet smile while feeling the tears form in her eyes. She spun around.

"Artie!"

The old man nodded. He looked a lot younger now than he had when she had seen him last time. Sarah sighed deeply. "Well, and I remember that you came to me in another person's shape when you told me it's not my time. _Her_ appearance confused me a lot back then."

"Well, I thought this one might be more suitable for you now." Her uncle assumed.

"Actually, no. But that's not important. I'm not here to talk to Artie. I'm here to talk to you." The writer forced her gaze away from him.

"Sarah, I am-"

"No." The girl interrupted the apparition in front of herself. "You're only my memory of Artie. But you're not him. You'll never be him. Not my uncle, not my mothers' friend. You're only the Warehouse pretending to be him." The girl said forcefully.

"I'm as much Artie as you are Sarah." The man in front of her replied slowly.

"You're only everyone's memory of him!" Sarah repeated, indignantly.

"Well, what else are we than our memory of each other?" Artie shrugged, looking hurt.

"It's actually quite interesting that you are saying this." The writer murmured, lowering her gaze to the ground.

"Pardon me?"

"Nothing. I'm here because I'm going to need your help." She looked up at him again, finding him confused. "With what?"

"You have to send a message. And I actually believe you already know what kind of message you have to send." She whispered carefully. "Because time works differently for you."

Arthur regarded her thoroughly with sad eyes. "I won't send a message about the position of the artifact, Sarah."

The girl in front of him shrugged. "We both know that that would be impossible because it would change things again. That would cause another time paradox. I can live with the fact that Kurt Parker was looking for me all my life. What I cannot live with is what you did. Time works differently for you. So you already know what I'm asking for."

The guide furrowed his eyebrows. "So you need Mrs. Frederic to know about the cities in which the element stones have been found so she can suggest them to Claudia." He assumed.

"In fact, there's more to it. Don't deny that you know." Sarah took a deep breath. "We both know that - back then - Helena remembered me. And that she struggles with this, because it wasn't her time. She wasn't ready for it. But we both know you caused it. You're the Warehouse and the bloody artifacts connected to it. Like - ravens." The girl tilted her head, one corner of her mouth curling up.

Artie sighed. "I don't know if I can do what you're asking for, Sarah." But this was only rewarded with an empathetic shake of the time traveler's head.

"No, we know you can do that. And you _will_ do it." Her voice was strict, causing him to glare at her.

"Pardon me?"

"We both know you will do it, because I'm telling you to. Because you want something from me and I agree on doing it if you send this message." The writer pursed her lips. "If I get another 'pardon me' from you, I'll start yelling."

"Me - wanting something from you?" The apparition looked confused.

"Do you really think I don't know that there is a reason you created me? Do you really think I don't know you did that for a purpose beyond wanting to have my parents grow closer to each other and to you?" She narrowed her eyes at him, hissing. "Do you really think I don't know why you are taking so much care of me? Why you want to make sure I'm alright? I had three years to think about this in private. It's because you want me to take care of something yourself. You need me to do this. Because you're helpless."

"Sarah-"

"Do you really think I can't tell why you are always appearing in the shape of dead people?!" She laughed, loudly, bitterly. "Or why it comes always back to this?" The girl pointed at the watch in the shelf next to herself. The watch she had avoided looking at again for so long. "You made sure everything worked out perfectly, you made sure that this artifact exists. Because time works differently for you. It follows different rules for you, just as it does for the watch. I know! Damn it! I know! We both know I'm not going to take care of you!"

Artie just stood there, looking at her carefully. He didn't react.

"I know." Sarah shook her head. "And it didn't take me that long to find out."

The old man looked down at the ground for a short moment, then he dared to meet her eyes again. "We all want to make sure that what comes after us is protected and cared for." He stated with a monotonous voice.

"Yes, and I want to make sure that what came before me is as well." The time traveler replied dryly. "So, we aren't that much different at this point. She's H.G. Wells, Artie. Don't you think you've already done enough to her? I can imagine that somebody once cared about her as much as you care about me now or about Claudia once." She sighed as she watched Artie's eyes glisten. "Like I said: I agree on fulfilling your wish. But for that, you have to fulfill mine."

Artie was silent for a few seconds, then he nodded. "Okay." They glared at each other until the girl bowed her head. "Thank you."


	27. Chapter 27

2014

Mrs. Frederic led Myka and HG to a small seating group in the hospital hall. She took her seat gracefully, as she always did, and then looked at both the agents in front of her. Who sat down, looking confused and exchanging concerned gazes. Myka was utterly baffled. Irene hadn't mentioned what in particular she wanted to talk about with the two of them, but something told the agent it was about Sarah. Sarah, the girl from the future, their daughter from the future, who had travelled through time twice now.

Carefully opening the big purse on her lap, Mrs Frederic begun:

"When I became caretaker of Warehouse 13 - that must have been 70 or 80 years ago - I received a very curious message from the Warehouse." She made a pause and surveyed Myka and HG carefully.

"A message from the Warehouse?" The younger one of the agents in front of her asked interestedly. "What do you mean by that?"

"I thought Claudia Donovan would have told you that the Warehouse is an entity with a fully-formed personality: emotions, thoughts and wishes. And that its caretaker sees it as their purpose to fullfill these wishes. Because the role of the caretaker is essential to the correct storage of artifacts. The Warehouse has... needs." The former caretaker of the Warehouse explained seriously.

"Well, that seems to be the reason why she so suddenly became caretaker." Helena assumed thoughtfully.

"That's right." Mrs Frederic bowed her head. "The Warehouse desired a new caretaker. It needed Claudia from then on. I had wondered why, but well, it seemed as though it needed to take care of something for itself. And that's why I accepted this substitution so easily. The Warehouse doesn't always communicate its wishes very clearly. After all, it's a building made of artifacts storing artifacts."

Myka wasn't sure if she understood everything that just had been said, but she was curious about where Irene was going.

"The scent of apples for example is one such way of communication." Mrs Frederic mentioned.

"It means that the Warehouse likes the person who is smelling it." Helena added quickly.

The older woman regarded the writer for a few seconds, then she folded her hands in her lap next to the purse she had opened. "Yes, indeed. That's one of the reasons to smell apples."

"There is another reason for it?" Myka asked, confused.

The former caretaker just looked down at her purse. "Another way of communication with the Warehouse is a guide, which manifests as a kind of apparition only the caretaker can see."

"Claudia mentioned Leena." HG nodded thoughtfully, like she had figured everything out.

"I didn't know Claudia's guide presented as Leena." Mrs Frederic raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But well, that makes sense."

"So, what are you going to say?" The curly haired agent tried to steer the meandering conversation back towards the original topic. She knew that Mrs. Frederic liked her way of being mysterious, but currently, Myka didn't appreciate it.

"When I became caretaker all those years ago, my guide sent me a curious message which made absolutely no sense for me. Until I went into the bronze sector and found Agent Wells there. And then - many years later - made Miss Bering one of my agents." The former caretaker explained and reached into her purse.

"What are you trying to say?" Myka asked, completely flabbergasted.

"The message included the names of cities which I had to give to someone called 'Claudia Donovan' at a certain point in time. These were connected to an artifact hunt, of course. Even though I was never told what this artifact was." Mrs Frederic went on speaking, ignoring the agent's question.

"Did it have something to do with Claudia's memory loss?" Helena asked interestedly, like she actually understood what Mrs. Frederic was talking about.

"I assume it did, now that you are updating me on this." The former caretaker simply nodded and then pulled a small yellow sticky note out of her purse. She looked at it before adressing the other women again. "The other part of the message was this. Due date of delivery: Today." Carefully, the caretaker reached out to hand the note to Helena, who took it, a little hesitantly. Myka watched the Victorian read the note and tear up immediately. The curly haired woman was confused, and waited for another reaction from the writer. But HG simply handed the note over and so Myka took it to read it herself..

_I am alright. Make sure my mothers are. Sarah Bering-Wells._

Myka stared at the note, utterly thunderstruck. She didn't know what to say or think. This seemed to mean that... whatever Sarah had to face in the future, she would manage it. This ...would this mean she existed? What...?

"When did you say you got this message?" Helena asked slowly, causing Myka to look up at her. The Victorian was crying, tensing and untensing her jaw, and the American couldn't tell whether it was from relief or something different.

"Like I already said. When I became caretak-" Mrs. Frederic replied, but was interrupted by Myka.

"But how?" She asked, not understanding.

"Well, Agent Bering, it seems that time works differently for the Warehouse." Irene stated as though it was a perfectly logical explanation for why she had received a message from the future 70 or 80 years ago. "And somebody wanted to make sure you are both alright."

"Are you implying you knew about our relationship for about 70 years? Even before you knew us? Even before we... knew?" Myka asked, her voice rising with each successive question, realising what that meant.

Helena and she exchanged a look.

"Well, that explains a lot." The Victorian murmured. "For example that I wasn't bronzed after Russia. Or after Yellow Stone."

"Or the book store!" Myka pointed her finger at Mrs Frederic. "You brought Helena to the book store because you thought... that there was something between us?!"

"Agent Bering." Mrs. Frederic gave her the raised eyebrow. "I brought Agent Wells into your parents' book store because I had to make sure you'd come back to the Warehouse."

The curly haired woman's mouth opened and closed several times. She was completely out of words.

"And even if your statement had been correct, Agent Bering, you cannot deny that it would have been nothing but the truth." The former caretaker bowed her head. Then, she closed her purse and rose from the chair, ignoring the way the agents gaped at her. "The positive effect of this... arrangement... is that I have already taken care of the paperwork that comes with a romantic relationship between two Warehouse Agents quite some time ago. That was something I could do even though personal matters of my agents shouldn't be anything I should be involved in."

"What does this imply?" Helena asked, surprised.

"The Regents have been informed and they agree with me when I say: It's about time." Irene offered them a smile, which caused Myka to be even more surprised than she already had been, because Mrs. Frederic barely ever smiled.

"The Regents said what?" Helena hissed indignantly. "The Regents are at the cause of this problem." Myka gaped at her girlfriend, who clenched her hands into fists, knuckles running white. "Regents put people into Janus coins. Regents-"

"Helena." The curly-haired women gently replied, putting her hand on the older woman's shoulder. "It's alright, You're here, now. With me."

The Victorian took a few deep, steadying breaths, glaring at the caretaker, who had pursed her lips.

"Well, Agent Wells, I have to express that the Warehouse and I haven't always agreed on the Regent's decisions. They didn't care. They constantly struggle with arranging the Warehouse's needs with the safety of the world. And sometimes, they are cowards." Mrs Frederic blinked a few times. "And I'm incredibly sorry for what they have caused you." With that, the former caretaker turned around. "Good evening to you, Agents Bering and Wells." She said her goodbyes and then walked away soundlessly.

Myka leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath, unsure what to say. She had to process this first. And Helena would surely have to process this as well. They were silent for a while until HG looked at her from the side.

"Myka..." She began, weakly, but did not go on. The younger woman knew that they had to talk about this... this topic that hung in the air between them. Sarah was something they struggled communicating about and now...

She shook her head and turned to the other woman.

"Wait, Helena. Wait." She whispered, leaning forwards to kiss her quickly. Pulling back, she looked into her love's eyes. "This only means... this only means that if... _if_ there is ever the possibility of us having a daughter, that she'll be alright. That you don't have to worry about that now."

"But..." The Victorian just looked down at the ground without finishing her sentence.

"It doesn't mean there has to be one." Myka took her hand. "Listen, I know you aren't ready to even consider thinking about children. And I have to say that I'm not ready for children myself." She gently cupped Helena's cheek and tilted her head upwards slightly so the writer could look into her eyes.

"I don't want you to look at me and ask yourself if I will ever be." Helena replied, her eyes darted away but Myka tilted her own head a little so she could look into them again.

"No. I won't. Because I know that wouldn't help you with your recovery, Helena. And I want to help you with that." She explained. "Honestly. But... children, that's currently not on my to-do-list. Do you want to know what's on my to-do-list?"

Helena offered her a weak smile. "Please don't say anything like 'you'. Pete made that joke once and I really don't know if I can handle you talking like him."

The younger woman laughed in relief. "No, I was going to say something different, but well... it's something like that. Because a future with you is on my to-do-list. Which means: a lot of you. A lot of this." She leaned forwards to kiss HG passionately. "A lot of talking to you." Another kiss. "A lot of waking up in each other's arms and have morning breath and messy hair."

The artificer looked at her for a few seconds, then she bowed her head. "That does sound compelling." She murmured.

"Do you know what sounds compelling as well?" Myka kissed the other woman again. "Greece." She breathed. "Or someplace like that. Someplace with a hotel room and only time for us. Something with a beach and a lot of sun. Just the two of us... I have a lot of extra hours to get rid off."

"Well, I'm still a restricted agent and not that long on the job." Helena replied in between kisses.

"Oh, from what I know you've been on the job since the 19th century. And restricted means you're an agent under me and maybe I can possibly order you to come with me on... an artifact snag in Greece?" Myka laughed, just to link their lips again. This time, neither of them pulled back to add anything to their conversation. Only their lips touched, until their bodies and hands joined them. Myka grinned. If Pete could see them: Agents Bering and Wells simply making out in the hospital's hall.

Myka knew that the rules of the time machine were different from those of the watch. That what Irene had told them meant that Sarah was certainly in their future. She knew that, but in this moment, she didn't want to think about it. Not any more. After her own episode of time travel, Myka had started thinking about children far too much without being ready for any thoughts like these. And she knew that Helena didn't want to think about it either. So Myka felt better considering Sarah only as a possibility.

Helena sighed into the kiss, shivering, and letting her hands roam over Myka's shoulders. The door of Claudia's and Steve's hospital room behind them opened and Abigail looked outside. "Is everything alright between you two? You've been having your 'talk' for a very long time now and everybody in here is slightly concerned."

The agents pulled apart, quickly, but not too far to rest their foreheads against each other. "No, Abigail. Everything's alright here." Helena told her.

"Okay." Myka whispered, feeling HG's hand brush over her knee. "I don't think this is appropriate behaviour for a hospital."

"Well, then we'll simply have to find another place." Helena purred back, then she raised her voice. "Abigail, for how much longer could we trouble you to take care of Adelaide? Myka and I have... a thing to do."

Abigail was quiet for a moment. "She still owes me a Scrabble rematch."

"Do you have your Scrabble game here?" Myka asked loudly.

"No, it's in the B&B... we would have to go there." The former therapist replied.

"Then maybe the car instead?" The Victorian whispered while carressing the younger woman's upper thigh. Myka swallowed in reaction to the heat that grew in her lower body.

"Okay, Abigail. I think that's a great idea." She rose from her chair and pulled Helena in the direction of the elevator. "We see you two later."

"Do I want to know?" Abigail yelled after them. "Oh wait, I probably don't."

"My bed is broken anyway." Myka whispered into Helena's ear while they waited for the elevator. She felt the writer intertwine their fingers. When the elevator doors opened, the Victorian quickly pulled Myka inside and pressed her against a wall. "Also a thing I've been longing for: the elevator." She breathed before kissing her possessively.

"I know." The younger woman replied when Helena gently peppered her neck with kisses. "I know and remember that situation."

"Of course." Helena smirked, looking at her. "Of course you do. But there is something you seem to have forgotten."

Myka's eyebrows furrowed. "Huh?" She asked.

"Well, your bed might be broken, but I have one in the B&B, too." The Victorian stated smugly. "And I heard that over the next few days, it's going to be replaced with a king-sized bed."

"Oh, the king-sized beds. I still don't know what to do with them and my room and the furniture. And now that I'm not on an artifact hunt anymore... I'll have to make that decision soon." Myka looked up to the ceiling and rubbed her forehead.

"Darling?" Helena quietly asked.

"Yes, Helena?" The younger woman looked at her to find her smiling mischievously.

"Sometimes, I'm really surprised how incredibly blind you are for a woman who has an infamous eye for detail." HG admitted.

"Will you make sense anytime soon or is it okay if I go on looking confused at you?" Myka shook her head.

"Well, king sized bed means enough space for two persons. And if you decided to sleep in my room for a while, we could think about what you'll be doing with your room." Helena suggested.

"Are you implying...?" The American's eyes widened.

"That you need time to figure out if you really want to arrange a bed of your own with all those shelves? But meanwhile you could wake up in my arms on a more regular basis? See where this is going?" The Victorian bowed her head. "I am."

Myka surveyed her carefully for a few seconds, then she leaned forwards to kiss her again, her hands roaming over the older woman's back. After some time, HG pulled back. She looked up at the ceiling. "How long exactly does an elevator need to get down to the parking lot?" She asked indignantly.

The American cleared her throat and reached out her hand awkwardly to press the elevator's button for the parking lot area. She looked at Helena, smirking.

"Oh." Helena replied, looking pretty dorky in Myka's opinion. Who just leaned forward and kissed her again.

_________________________________________________________

Abigail closed the door of the hospital room and looked at Steve and Claudia.

"We've created monsters." She stated with a bright grin and then eyed Adelaide carefully.

"I really don't know if that was us." The caretaker replied, glaring at Steve.

"Well, somebody sent them to New York, where they had to snag an artifact that unleashes strong emotions." The Keeper of the Inn sat down in a chair. "You cannot tell me that wasn't on purpose."

"I don't think that sounds like something I would do." Steve mentioned and looked at Claudia with raised brows.

"Well, in our defense, we literally don't know - anymore - what we were doing." Claudia replied, touching the bandage on her forehead. "I mean... I have no memory of this place."

"But you definitely were yourself, Claud." Her former partner nodded profusely and then held his shoulder in pain.

"Are you suggesting I set them up with each other?" The redhead said indignantly. Jinks just gave her a look. Claudia rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. Maybe that does really sound like something I would do."

"Well, Claudia, you called me with your eyebrows wiggling and told me I have to take care of Adelaide so Myka and HG could 'figure some things out'. Right, Adelaide?" Abigail looked at the girl, who had been sitting in her chair, been looking at everyone quietly.

"I'm glad they finally talked." The girl admitted. "It was annoying."

"Don't tell me you're a Bering and Wells shipper, little girl." The caretaker regarded her thoroughly.

"Have you looked at them?" Adelaide grinned and then let her gaze wander to everyone in the room. "Considering your body language, you have, and I'm not the only one who shipped them."

Claudia narrowed her eyes at the girl. "How old are you? Twelve?"

"Eleven." Adelaide nodded.

"You're creepy." The redhead declared. "Definitely a creepy little child."

"Says the woman who can freakin' teleport." The girl gave back.

Claudia and Adelaide glared at each other for a long moment.

"Shipper?" Steve asked quietly and the youngest member of the room turned her head at him. "Somebody who wants two people to become a couple. Someone like us. Someone like you."

"I'm not a... shipper." Jinks replied.

"Considering your body language, that might not be true." Adelaide said.

"Oh my god, Steve. Are you lying?" Claudia grinned at Adelaide. "I already like you!"

"I'm not... that's not our... business." Steve mumbled.

"Oh, Jinksy. First rule of holes: if you're in one, stop digging." The caretaker's grin just brightened.

Abigail giggled quietly.

"Yes, Jinksy. I think it's quite clear that you're also glad they finally..." The girl's eyebrows darted up. Claudia chuckled. That girl was such a smart ass. And she was calling Steve 'Jinksy'.

"Well, Adelaide?" The former keeper of the inn looked at all of them. "Scrabble? Ice cream? I think we have some time to kill."

"Not ice cream again, please." Adelaide replied. "To be honest, I'm not very fond of ice cream after that day..." She shook her head.

Claudia's Farnsworth on the night stand rang and she carefully opened it to find Artie looking at her. "Arthurio!" She exclaimed. "It's wonderful to finally get a life sign from you. I assume you're having a good time with Vanessa?"

The agent looked a little confused. "I called you yesterday, Claudia. Remember?"

The caretaker pursed her lips. "Well, actually... Steve and I have some memory problems to figure out."

Artie's eyes widened. "What do you mean? Is the Warehou-"

"The Warehouse is still standing and alright, but Steve and I are a little bit bruised and due to time travel shitfuckery, we've both been afflicted with some sort of amnesia." Claudia explained. "And it's not our fault. Somebody in the future decided we needed to miss more than a day."

The old man narrowed his eyes at her. "The time machine?" He assumed, looking like he wanted to start investigating immediately.

"Apparently. But, Artie, everything is under control. We are alright and we will probably figure everything out in time." Claudia stated in a serious tone of voice.

Artie seemed to ponder this for a short time, then he nodded. "Are you alright?" He asked concernedly.

"Well, my head hurts like hell, but otherwise yes." The caretaker gave back.

"I'm glad to hear it." He replied, his eyes darting away.

"That my head hurts like hell or that I'm fine?" The redhead blinked, confused.

"Uhm..." Artie's eyes darted nervously around.

"Are you?" Claudia asked emphatically.

"Yes. Yes." Arthur looked at something behind the Farnsworth. "We are alright."

"That's good to hear. Then you should probably go on with whatever Vanessa and you were doing." The caretaker looked at the other people in the room. "Am I right, Artie and Vanessa shippers?"

She was rewarded with nodds from everybody.

"Last question, before I hang up and ignore whatever you just said: have Myka and HG snagged the artifact that you mentioned? The one that affected Pete?" Artie demanded to know.

"Yes." Claudia bowed her head. "We are going to bring it to the Warehouse as soon as possible. Don't worry."

"Good then." Immediately, Artie's screen went black.

"Oh god, he is so much in love." The caretaker grinned happily. Then, her eyebrows furrowed. She looked up at Abigail and Adelaide who had already grabbed their jackets, and then at Steve, who seemed to be unsure what to do with his shoulder.

"Dudes and Dudettes?" Claudia asked carefully. "Now that Artie's mentioned him..."

Everybody in the room looked at her in reaction to her concerned tone of voice.

The redhead pursed her lips. "Does anybody know where we left Pete?"


	28. Epilogue

Claudia looked at the blackboard in Artie's office, trying to memorise what she was seeing. Emotion element stones. There were four of these stones, each named for a specific emotion: Grief, Wrath, Fear and Euphoria.

She knew that Myka and Helena had found Wrath during their artifact snag last week. The caretaker had found out that Grief and Fear had already been stored in the Warehouse since they had been snagged during the 20th century. Judging from what she was seeing on the blackboard and the map right next to it, Claudia concluded that during her time travel, Sarah had been looking for Euphoria. Claudia really hoped that she had found it. Or that she would find it. In the future. Currently, whatever motivated the girl to go on this search was about as clear as mud to the caretaker. As was the incident that had caused her own memory loss. Why would anybody need a stone that gives you a random emotion? But Claudia would do research. She would do enough research to be able to help that girl in the future.

Suddenly, the caretaker started smiling, lowering her gaze away from the blackboard to the ground. Claudia had noticed somebody. Without turning around, she said:

"Hello Mrs. Frederic."

She could hear Irene pause. Maybe the older woman was surprised.

"Claudia." The former caretaker whispered, her tone of voice actually betraying a trace of surprise. "Did you feel the Warehouse noticing me?"

"Yes." The redhead replied and then turned around to find the former caretaker standing in the Umbilicus' door. Claudia had left the door open when she had entered the Warehouse today. She liked to 'claudia' around, but sometimes, she still liked to use a door. "But it's also that you're not walking as quietly as you think you are."

Mrs Frederic bowed her head and walked over to one of the office desks, where she carefully placed her purse. Then, the former caretaker joined the redhead in front of the blackboard.

"So then, Claudia." She began and looked at a sketch of the Wrath stone. "Did you find the artifact I asked you to find?"

Claudia surveyed her from the side and then shrugged. "Actually, Mrs. Frederic. I don't really know. I assume I did. According to these notes - not my handwriting by the way - it must have been in Sioux Falls like you suggested me. But I have some memory loss. It seems I was in Sioux Falls and the ravens were there as well. But I also seem to have lost the artifact again. And I don't know why Myka and HG found me here in Univille. The Warehouse isn't giving me access to the ravens' memory about that. It's like it's desperately trying to leave the situation the way it is."

"Interesting information, Claudia." The older woman spoke, her gaze still pinned to the blackboard. "The Warehouse definitely has its own moods and it's hard to figure out its needs, but you can always be sure it's for its best. And sometimes it's not that important when an artifact finds its way into the Warehouse. Only that it does find its way."

"Are you turning this into a lecture for me, Mrs. F? Because if you know more about this than I do, then you should tell me, but I highly doubt that you do. Otherwise you would have told me directly instead of just giving me a puzzle." The caretaker stated, a slight crease appearing between her eyebrows.

"I have to admit that I don't know anything more about this than you do, Claudia." Mrs. Frederic pursed her lips. Apparently she was frustated.

"Ha! So you gave me a puzzle without knowing its solution?!" Claudia grinned mischievously.

The former caretaker was silent for a brief moment. "I did what I was asked to. And what was best for the Warehouse, Claudia."

"Of course." The redhead's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait... What you were asked to?"

"Time follows different rules for the Warehouse. You will see it for yourself while working for it." The older woman said enigmatically.

"Could you... maybe... just for once in your life just simply say what you want to say?" Claudia sighed loudly. "I'm the caretaker, Mrs. Frederic. I demand clear statements. Leena already mentioned that time follows different rules for her when I became caretaker and I'm really done with having people talk in riddles to me."

Mrs. Frederic turned on her heels to look at her. Her face was strict but she nevertheless looked impressed. "Sarah Bering-Wells, Claudia."

"That kid from the future!" The redhead exclaimed.

"Indeed." The former caretaker nodded thoughtfully.

"What's with her?" Claudia demanded to know. Her eyes widened in surprise when Mrs. Frederic shrugged.

"I have absolutely no idea, Claudia. All I know is that this child has travelled through time twice now. Once with the help of an artifact she and her mothers have created or will create in an uncertain future. And once with the time machine her mother invented in the past. She is the daughter of two time travellers and has travelled through time. Twice." Mrs Frederic surveyed her student. "During the first time, she found Agent Bering and gave her the memory of a future that will never really happen the way she saw it. Because it changed after the memory was made. The second time, she found Agent Wells and gave her the memory of a day that has never happened. Because they had changed it already."

"What are you trying to say?" The caretaker whispered, unsure about what to say or what to even feel.

"From what I've been able to extract from my research and what Agent Bering and Wells have said and done, my working theory is that we are dealing with three women connected to a single artifact over time. A powerful artifact that doesn't merely deal with time travel but also with memory, Claudia." Mrs Frederic inhaled deeply, an atypical show of emotion. "And time and memory are both very dangerous subjects to deal with."

"So what are you going to say? Can we do some-" Claudia tried but Mrs. F interrupted her.

"That I'm concerned, Claudia. That I'm very concerned. And that I have no idea what we will have to face in the future when this child will be born. She has also an incredibly strong connection to the Warehouse." The former caretaker's eyes darted through the room.

"How do you know that?" The redhead whispered.

"She has sent my guide a message across time. Communicating with a guide of the Warehouse is something only its caretaker can do." Irene answered her question.

"So she's caretaker in the future?" Claudia tilted her head questioningly.

Mrs. Frederic's eyes met hers. "Do we know?"

"We probably will, since you seem to be so sure she'll be born." The redhead replied, still confused.

The former caretaker stared at her for a while. "All I'm saying is that when she'll finally be born, somebody will have to look after her."

"And you're asking me to do that." Claudia's words really weren't a question in any sense except the grammatical.

"You're the caretaker." Mrs Frederic said as though no further explanation was needed.

"Indeed I am." The caretaker bowed her head.

"Good." And with that, their conversation seemed to be over for Mrs. Frederic, but Claudia had another question.

"What are we going to do about the Regents?" She asked carefully.

"What about them?" The former caretaker seemed to be surprised.

"Since you are concerned about Myka's and HG's future daughter, I expected you to inform them about that." Claudia suggested, shrugging.

Her eyebrows darted up in surprise as she caught Irene actually rolling her eyes. Mrs. F glared at Claudia.

"I don't think we should _bother_ ," Mrs Frederic spat out that word as though it was disgusting her, "the Regents about a non-existant child, Claudia. Not after all that has happened to Agent Wells. Especially because you said you're going to take care of her daughter. I trust you." With an emphatic nod, Irene suggested to the girl that this part of their conversation was over.

The older woman turned to look around the room. "Where did I leave my purse?" She asked, sounding like she was at a loss.

Claudia stared briefly at her but then realised that this was rude. "There on the desk, where you placed it."

"Ah! Alright." Mrs Frederic walked towards the desk, took her purse and then looked at Claudia. The redhead noticed that the older woman looked insecure for a brief moment. "Have a nice day, Claudia."

"You, too, Mrs. Frederic." The redhead regarded the former caretaker carefully while Irene left the office through the Umbilicus' door. With her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Claudia stared at the door for a long while, even after it had closed. Then she looked down and blinked thoughtfully, pondering the older woman's strange behaviour.

Eventually, Claudia took the blackboard's sponge and wiped it clean.

**The End (for now)**


End file.
